ill's 


U.  C.  L  A. 
EDUC.  DEPT, 


TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

HEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO  •   DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMTOD 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

A   BASIS 
FOR   PURPOSEFUL   STUDY 


BY 

CHARLES  A.   McMURRY 


Nrfn  |f0rfc 

THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
1920 

All  right*  reserved 


U.  C.  L.  A. 
EDLC.  DEPT. 


COPYRIGHT,  1910, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  January,  1900. 


NorfaooB 

J.  S.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  A  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


U.  C.  LA.  M  7 

EDU€. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  r  <•  T  TFOKNlA 
&ANTA  BARBARA 

STATEMENT  OF  NEEDS 

WE  need  to  organize  knowledge  into  complete  wholes  or 
projects,  looking  toward  well-conceived,  purposive  ends. 

We  need  to  discriminate  in  teaching  between  bare  facts 
and  constructive  projects,  around  which  facts  are  gathered 
and  centered. 

We  need  to  economize  time  and  avoid  waste  by  organiz- 
ing instruction. 

We  need  to  avoid  what  is  vague  and  merely  abstract. 

We  need  a  better  basis,  in  large  instructional  units, 
for  planning  lessons  and  for  executing  class-teaching. 

We  need  to  consider  knowledge  not  as  formal  and  static 
but  as  progressive  and  dynamic,  i.e.,  as  contributing  to 
the  growth  of  ideas. 

We  need  to  start  out  in  every  new  subject  with  full,  keen, 
relishable  knowledge  and,  on  this  basis,  to  provide  for 
steady  growth  and  organization  into  large  units. 

We  need  to  practice  the  use  of  knowledge  at  every  turn, 
first  by  directing  attention  to  what  is  serviceable  and, 
secondly,  by  using  it  in  the  realization  of  projects. 

We  need  to  put  a  far  richer  meaning  into  common,  famil- 
iar topics  which  are  types  for  later  growth  and  expansion. 

We  need  to  simplify,  organize,  and  enrich  every  impor- 
tant topic  or  project  until  it  reaches  the  stage  of  a  complete 
achievement. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    PROJECTS  IN  THE  SCHOOL 1-17 

II.    EXAMPLES  OF  COMPLETE  PROJECTS       .        .        .        18-43 

III.  THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  PROJECTS  AS  LARGE  UNITS 

OF  STUDY 44~59 

IV.  THE  ENLARGED  OBJECT  LESSON  OR  PROJECT  AND 

ITS  RELATION  TO  THE  LEARNING  PROCESS       .  60-83 
V.    THREE   IMPORTANT   PRINCIPLES   PUT   TO   WORK 

UNDER  RIGHT  CONDITIONS         ....  84-97 
VI.    A  GROWING  TENDENCY  TO  ADOPT  LARGE  PROJECTS 

AS  STUDY  UNITS 98-120 

VII.    SIMPLIFYING  STUDIES  ON  THE  BASIS  or  LARGE 

PROJECTS    121-134 

VIII.     THE  ENRICHMENT  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  THE  INTEN- 
SIVE TREATMENT  OF  LARGE  UNITS    .        .        .  135-151 
IX.    LARGE  LESSON  PLANNING  BASED  ON  PROJECTS    .  152-167 
X.    LARGE  TEACHING  UNITS  OR  PROJECTS  A  BROAD 

BASIS  FOR  INSTRUCTION 168-188 

XI.    THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION         .  189-215 

XII.    METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  216-236 

XIII.    CLASSROOM  METHOD  BASED  ON  PROJECTS    .        .  237-254 


TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

CHAPTER   I 
PROJECTS  IN  THE  SCHOOL 

PROJECTS  are  of  two  kinds : 

First,  the  child's  project  undertaken  at  his  own  behest 
when  he  is  pressed  by  a  felt  desire  or  need,  e.g.  TWO  classes 
the  bird  house,  the   rabbit   trap,  a  homemade  ofPr°iects 
telephone. 

Secondly,  the  projects  of  others  which  the  child  appro- 
priates, into  which  he  is  easily  drawn,  and  to  which  he  gives 
his  undivided  attention,  as  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin, 
the  planning  of  a  canal  lock,  or  improving  the  harbor  of 
San  Francisco;  or  he  is  absorbed  in  Crusoe's  projects  of 
cave-making,  boat-building,  and  taming  of  animals. 

There  is  a  wide  range  to  the  first  kind  of  self-chosen  proj- 
ects that  a  child  falls  upon,  from  doll  dresses,  sleds,  tree- 
houses,  or  camping  trips,  to  the  dramatizing  of  a  tale  and  even 
the  writing  of  a  story  or  poem.  There  is  a  still  wider  scope 
and  bigness  to  the  projects  of  the  second  class  that  he 
appropriates  from  without,  and  both  sorts  happily  open  the 
way  into  important  school  studies.  Even  a  child's  games 
show  how  easily  he  passes  beyond  his  own  small  projects 
to  those  of  his  elders,  as  in  hunting,  gardening,  and  house 
building.  He  participates  freely  in  the  projects  of  men 
exploring  new  regions,  as  Boone  and  Fremont ;  or  Fulton 
building  and  exhibiting  the  first  steamboat ;  or  Captain 


2  TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 

Eads  constructing  the  jetties  to  open  a  deep  passage  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  These  projects  which  men 
and  women,  active  in  the  world,  are  pushing  to  completion, 
are  appropriate  and  engaging  subjects  for  young  people 
who  are  just  opening  their  eyes  to  the  big  things  in  life, 
as,  Livingstone  opening  up  Central  Africa,  the  Red  Cross 
busy  in  relief  work,  Cornell  founding  a  university  for 
the  people,  New  York  City  constructing  its  huge  aqueduct 
from  the  Catskills  for  supplying  its  vast  population 
with  water.  Industrial  and  scientific  projects  in  mining, 
in  agriculture,  and  in  sanitation  are  the  choice  enterprises 
for  children.  Even  big  government  projects  in  irrigation 
and  canal  construction  engage  the  mind  in  genuine  thought 
problems. 

In  the  impulse  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  larger  world, 
children  find  themselves  involved  in  these  important 
projects  whether  developed  in  the  past  or  now  opening  up 
in  life  about  them. 

Educationally  considered,  we  believe  a  child  is  at  his 
best  when  planning  and  executing  his  own  projects,  or  at 
Value  of  least  those  which  engage  his  full  powers.  Adult 
projects  men  an(j  women  also  in  active  undertakings  are 
at  their  best  when  working  out  effectively  important  busi- 
ness and  other  projects.  Even  society,  in  its  larger  organi- 
zations, is  at  its  best  when  engaged  energetically  in  develop- 
ing and  executing  social  projects.  In  all  these  cases  the 
project  has  the  merit  of  a  self-directed  organization  of 
mental  and  physical  resources  to  achieve  a  well-considered 
result.  The  larger  projects  of  adult  life  and  of  social  and 
industrial  progress  have  the  additional  merit  that  they  tax 
the  serious  thought  powers  of  children.  They  are  real 
problems  resting  upon  a  practical  basis  of  life  experience. 


PROJECTS   IN   THE    SCHOOL  3 

They  also  stimulate  and  require  a  sustained  effort  in 
thinking. 

Whether  the  child  is  engaged  in  his  self-chosen  project 
or  makes  his  own  some  bold  and  difficult  undertaking  of 
another,  the  motive  and  energy  of  thought  are  much  the 
same.  The  project  itself  is  a  natural  summons  to  ambition 
and  effort,  an  impulsive  forward  movement  hi  purposeful 
thinking,  and  yet  objective,  and  oftentimes  even  dramatic 
and  spectacular.  These  project-problems,  expressing  the 
strain  of  thought  and  effort  to  master  the  forces  of  environ- 
ment, lead  more  directly  into  life  conditions  as  they  are 
than  any  other  studies. 

There  is  a  close  and  necessary  connection  between  the 
self-chosen  projects  of  the  child's  small  world  and  the 
large  projects  of  the  life  beyond.  The  smaller  problems 
are  a  prelude  to  the  major  ones  soon  to  follow,  to  which 
they  are  so  closely  akin  in  motive  and  in  spirit.  Children 
should  be  induced  to  work  out  as  many  of  these  self-chosen 
projects  as  may  be  feasible  in  order  that  they  may  take  on 
the  problem-solving  attitude  with  respect  to  the  larger, 
more  complex  problems  whose  solution  may  be  thought  out. 

It  is  a  truism  of  our  educational  creed  that  sensory 
impressions  based  on  object  lessons  and  motor  response  form 
the  primary  basis  of  thought  in  dealing  with  the  later 
materials  of  knowledge.  The  project  conceived  and  exe- 
cuted by  the  child  on  the  ground  of  his  own  experience  is  a 
still  better  basis  for  our  educational  efforts  because  it 
sets  up  in  children  self-determination  and  purposeful 
activity  in  a  complete,  natural,  and  well-rounded  unit  of 
effort.  This  kind  and  quality  of  constructive  thought  can 
be  carried  forward  into  later  studies  and  into  life  as  a  funda- 
mental methodof  exploring,  organizing,  and  using  knowledge. 


4  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

The  object  of  a  good  course  of  study  is  to  allow  the  chil- 
dren to  grow  into  and  identify  themselves  with  the  enter- 
prising projects  which  men,  past  and  present,  have  found 
most  essential  to  their  welfare  and  progress.  The  child's 
own  little  projects  are  very  essential  beginnings  in  this 
fundamental  process  of  appropriating  and  using  knowledge 
and  experience  directed  by  himself  toward  useful  ends. 
The  best  devices  of  instruction  may  be  turned  into  this 
channel  where  children  are  led  to  the  self -appropriation  of 
those  larger  projects  in  which  wiser  heads,  active  in  the 
world,  set  their  chief  store. 

While  the  larger  projects  of  the  world  just  outside  of  the 
school  have  a  powerful  attraction  for  children,  it  is  of  equal 
Growth  importance  to  repeat  and  emphasize  the  approach 
fromindi-  to  these  projects  out  of  the  child's  experience  so 
social  that  the  projects  of  his  own  making  grow  into  the 

projects  iarger  schemes  of  life.  Contact  with  life  at  both 
ends  is  essential,  first  in  a  rich  child  environment,  and 
secondly  in  a  richer,  better-organized  social  environment 
beyond  the  school  walls.  The  world's  experience  and 
wisdom  are  gathered  up  and  organized  into  these  successful 
projects.  They  express  the  growing  stages,  the  actual 
evolution  of  the  main  life  processes  in  a  practical  world. 

In  plying  his  trade  among  school  children  the  teacher 
must  be  a  full  master  of  both  kinds  of  experience,  the  in- 
dividual and  the  social,  constantly  playing  back  and  forth 
between  the  two,  establishing  thus  that  steady  continuity 
of  growth  into  a  larger  experience  which  makes  education 
all  of  one  piece. 

On  this  basis  it  is  necessary  for  the  teacher  to  study  the 
big  world  and  its  dominating  projects  quite  as  closely  as 
the  child,  his  tendencies,  and  activities.  This  cannot  be 


PROJECTS   IN   THE    SCHOOL  5 

called  an  easy  program  for  the  teacher.  But  it  is  at  least 
an  opportunity  to  sound  the  depths  of  our  real  problem  of 
education  and  to  turn  our  effort  into  the  main  current  of 
progress  in  the  teaching  art. 

The  term  project  belongs  in  one  sense  to  the  language  of 
business,  —  or  of  plans  and  schemes  in  active  life.    It  is  an 
echo  £rom  a  noisy  world,  an  intrusion  upon  the       . 
quiet  of  the  school,  like  a  sharp  train  whistle  or  a  fleet  real 
noisy  street   wagon.     But   our   drowsy   school 
work  may  need  this  influx  of  noise  and  disturbance  from 
without.    At  any  rate  the  school  is  being  brought  into  sharp 
contact  with  real  life.     In  the  school  program  itself,  the 
children  are  learning  to  understand  and  adjust  themselves 
to  life  surroundings  and  to  take  in  the  full  meaning  of  the 
schemes  and  forces  that  are  shaping  society  outside  of  the 
school. 

In  taking  over  these  life  projects  and  adopting  them  into 
a  plan  of  instruction  as  units  of  thought  and  effort,  we  find 
in  them  two  striking  qualities  that  fit  the  needs  of  teaching. 
First,  they  are  objective  and  practical,  not  theoretical  and 
vague.  Big  projects  like  the  power  plant  at  Muscle  Shoals, 
the  Panama  Canal,  or  the  jetty  improvements  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  stand  out  as  commanding  objects  of 
attention.  They  are  worth  an  examination.  Secondly,  such 
a  real  undertaking  establishes  a  center  of  purposeful  effort 
which  develops  rapidly  into  a  fruitful,  progressive  subject 
of  study.  Around  this  definite,  tangible  center  the  ma- 
terials of  knowledge  begin  to  collect  and  organize  and 
thought  has  plenty  of  stuff  to  work  upon. 

The  term  project  as  we  are  using  it  has  a  wide  scope  and 
is  applicable  to  a  variety  of  undertakings  in  several  im- 
portant studies.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  particularize 


6  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

in  some  detail  the  wide  range  of  capital  projects  which  the 
school  may  now  find  profitable  as  standard  units  of  mental 
effort. 

First :  There  are  simple,  objective  projects  of  the  hand-work 
type.  We  are  familiar  with  them  in  the  larger  and  smaller 
Shop  and  constructions  of  the  shops,  for  example,  in 
home  proj-  textile  fabrics,  in  wood  work,  in  book  binding  and 
printing,  in  pottery,  and  in  many  related  home 
undertakings  such  as  repairs,  reconstructions,  and  sanitary 
appliances.  To  the  same  group  belong  plans  for  school 
and  home  gardening,  agriculture  and  fruit  growing,  chicken 
raising,  dairying,  and  other  specialties.  The  household 
arts  supply  another  group  of  definite  projects  in  laundering, 
sewing;  cooking,  and  millinery,  in  house  decoration  and 
furnishing.  In  some  schools  there  is  a  tendency  to  extend 
school  credits  to  these  home  enterprises  and  accomplish- 
ments. These  shop-and-farm  and  household  projects  have 
both  a  marked  educational  value,  and  a  clear,  practical 
utility.  They  require  a  distinct  forethought  in  planning 
and  designing,  resourcefulness  in  meeting  new  and,  untried 
situations,  persistent  purpose  and  industry  in  executing 
plans,  and,  finally,  a  proper  use  of  the  results  or  products. 
Not  many  school  exercises  of  the  old  stripe  combine  in  one 
strong  series  of  efforts  all  these  merits  and  advantages. 

Secondly  :  The  study  of  geography  supplies  a  profusion  of 
big,  tangible  projects  of  conspicuous  importance  in  human 
industrial  affairs,  as  projects  in  bridge  construction,  in  rail- 
mertiai""  roac*  engineering  and  mountain  tunneling,  in 
projects  expensive  mining  operations,  in  the  survey  and 
building  of  canals,  in  dealing  with  extensive  forest  reserves, 
in  planning  city  waterworks  and  reservoirs,  in  irrigation 
schemes  on  a  large  scale,  in  installing  great  water  powers 


PROJECTS    IN   THE    SCHOOL  7 

at  dams  and  falls  in  rivers,  in  laying  ocean  cables,  in  build- 
ing subways,  in  improving  harbors,  in  regulating  rivers 
bylevees  and  jetties,  in  the  drainage  of  swamp  areas,  in  great 
corporations  for  the  conduct  of  business  on  a  vast  scale, 
as  steamship  companies  and  railroad  systems.  We  are 
now  discovering  that  these  large  municipal,  governmental, 
and  industrial  projects  are  in  themselves  complete  and 
well-organized  units  of  study,  the  best  sort  of  standard 
topics  for  schoolroom  instruction.  The  school  can  well 
turn  its  attention  to  these  enterprises  because  they  are  so 
largely  shaping  life  about  us ;  they  are  dominant  in  their 
influence  upon  the  occupations,  the  homes  and  surroundings 
of  thousands  and  millions  of  our  people.  They  are  the 
things  that  children  desire  to  know  and  understand.  Ex- 
periments in  the  full  school-treatment  of  these  topics  have 
also  demonstrated  that  they  have  a  peculiar  suitability 
to  the  thinking  power  and  interest  of  children. 

In  another  and  quite  different  way  nature  herself  works 
out  on  a  large  scale  projects  which  we  study  in  geography, 
as  the  sculpturing  of  a  river  valley,  the  work  of  a  mountain 
glacier,  the  course  and  influence  of  an  ocean  current,  the 
regular  circulation  of  winds  and  moisture  upon  the  earth, 
the  course  and  movements  of  a  cyclonic  storm.  These 
may  be  called  natural  units  of  study,  displaying  nature's 
big  patterns  or  designs,  by  which  she  works  out  her  projects 
in  making  the  earth  a  fit  dwelling  place  for  man. 

Thirdly :  A  third  group  of  projects  has  a  more  distinctly 
scientific  origin.  Inventions  and  discoveries  based  upon 
scientific  principles  are  embodied  in  steam  , 

Projects  in 

engines,  wireless  stations,  power   plants,  great  applied 
telescopes,  electric  motors,  mining  and  smelting 
processes,  lightning  rods,  hydrostatic  presses,  steam  dredges, 


8  TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 

and  water  filters.  Scientific  processes  also  are  applied  to 
the  ventilation  of  buildings,  to  hospital  and  surgery  prac- 
tice, to  the  propagation  of  plants,  the  extraction  and 
preservation  of  foods,  to  the  fertilizing  of  soils,  to  the  bac- 
terial treatment  of  diseases,  to  quarantine  and  sanitation. 
Applied  science  is  full  of  big,  comprehensive  projects  for 
turning  scientific  knowledge  into  use  in  commerce,  in  war, 
in  aviation,  in  agriculture,  in  animal  husbandry,  in  naviga- 
tion, in  the  extraction  and  use  of  metals,  in  electrical  ap- 
pliances, and  in  medicine. 

It  is  in  these  very  projects,  objective  and  directly  practical 
in  their  bearings,  that  children  are  best  able  to  see  the  mean- 
ing and  value  of  modern  science  in  its  influence  upon  life. 
What  children  in  elementary  schools  need  is  not  abstract 
scientific  principles,  not  the  systematic  study  of  any  or  all 
the  sciences  (an  impossible  thing),  but  simple,  objective, 
convincing  demonstrations  of  the  main  ideas  and  uses  of 
science  in  the  home  and  neighborhood  and  in  the  larger 
world  beyond.  What  could  be  better  for  children  than  to 
allow  them  to  see  these  tangible  projects  developing  and 
working  out  their  proper,  practical  influence  upon  the  con- 
ditions of  life  that  surround  them  ?  These  are  preeminently 
needful  and  instructive  topics  that  should  be  given  the 
right  of  way  in  the  elementary  curriculum. 

Fourthly  :  Many  of  the  stories  and  undertakings  described 
in  biography  and  history  are  large  personal  or  national 
Pr  •  t  .  projects  in  the  full  meaning  of  the  term.  For 
biography  example,  Columbus'  first  voyage,  the  Panama 
Canal,  Alexander's  first  campaign  into  Asia,  St. 
Paul's  missionary  journeys,  Grant's  movement  against 
Vicksburg,  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  up  the  Missouri 
and  across  the  mountains,  the  voyage  of  the  Mayflower, 


PROJECTS   IN   THE    SCHOOL  g 

Livingstone's  explorations  in  Africa.  In  a  large  interpreta- 
tion, history  consists  of  an  account  of  men's  important 
projects  in  the  building  of  cities,  in  the  founding  of  states, 
in  legislative  programs,  in  reform  movements,  in  founding 
institutions  and  societies,  in  warlike  conquest,  in  territorial 
expansions,  in  the  development  of  traffic  routes  and  com- 
mercial policies.  Especially  in  the  story  of  leading  his- 
torical characters  do  we  find  the  personal  impulse  strong  to 
execute  some  scheme  or  propagandist  idea,  some  notion 
of  progress,  as  illustrated  in  Hamilton's  plan  for  funding 
the  national  debt,  Field's  project  for  laying  the  first  Atlantic 
cable,  Stanley's  search  for  Livingstone,  Howard's  scheme  of 
prison  reform,  Franklin's  proposed  Albany  plan  for  the 
union  of  the  colonies,  Jefferson's  purchase  of  Louisiana. 
The  enthusiastic  personal  element  that  plays  through  these 
individual  yet  social  projects  lends  an  unusual  strength  to 
such  topics.  The  man's  life  and  energy  are  absorbed  into 
and  identified  with  the  undertaking.  He  becomes  a  power- 
ful and  living  exponent  of  a  national  or  world  idea.  For 
instructional  purposes  such  projects,  thus  reenforced  by 
personal,  objective  demonstration,  are  of  surprising  value. 
We  can  afford  to  work  out  such  projects  descriptively  and 
more  or  less  exhaustively  till  we  find  a  full  background  for 
the  main  idea,  the  completed  purpose. 

Fifthly :    The  masterpieces  of  literature  are  the  outcome 
of  thought  projects  conceived  and  elaborated  in  the  minds 
of  authors,   for  example,  Plato's  Republic,  St.   Master- 
John's  Gospel,  De  Foe's  Robinson  Crusoe,  Shake-  pieces  in 

literature 

speare  s  Macbeth,  Longfellow  s   Building  of  the  considered 
Ship,  Fiske's  Critical  Period  of  American  History,  as  projects 
Plutarch's  Lives.      A   drama   or  novel    or   poem    is    the 
energy   of  the  author's  thought  working  itself  out  and 


IO  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

projecting  itself  into  a  great  thought-movement.  It  is 
active  and  stimulating,  and  yet  is  caught  and  held  somehow 
in  a  permanent  artistic  form.  A  masterpiece  is  a  tangible 
literary  project,  a  rational  undertaking  looking  toward  a 
well-planned  achievement.  Literary  products  are  the 
greatest  projects  of  the  human  mind  and  as  such  they  are 
the  best  examples  of  great  thought  units,  of  knowledge 
rightly  organized  and  artistically  grouped.  As  perfected, 
energized  thought-movements,  complete  units  of  effort, 
they  demand  thoughtful,  elaborate,  progressive  study. 
The  outcome  of  such  study  is  a  full  appreciation  of  their 
constructive,  dynamic  quality  and  their  final  unity. 

By  a  survey  and  comparison  of  these  various  interpreta- 
tions of  the  term  project  as  seen  in  the  several  studies,  we 
may  conclude  that  it  is  a  practical,  untechnical  word  with 
which  to  designate  a  variety  of  big,  vital  topics.  It  lays 
stress  upon  the  actual  and  objective  in  present  and  past 
experiences.  It  deals  with  an  energetic,  growing  idea, 
concretely  embodied,  that  expands  into  a  strong,  even, 
national  influence.  Projects  force  attention  upon  the  main 
objects  of  study,  the  chief  enterprises  that  make  up  the 
warp  and  woof  of  real  life  in  our  times. 

At  the  present  moment  we  need  to  be  jolted  out  of  our 

conventional,  formal  school  phrases  and  to  find  terms  better 

adapted  to  the  educational  needs  and  forces  of 

A  return  to 

life  and  the  hour.  The  term  project  is  a  newcomer  among 
educational  phrases.  It  seems  to  suggest  not  the 
school  but  the  shop,  not  the  textbook  but  the  busy  mart, 
the  industrial  life,  the  unhallowed  things  of  the  schemer 
and  the  promoter.  Perhaps  this  is  its  merit,  that  it  forces 
attention  upon  things  that  have  come  to  importance  in 
life,  things  which  need  to  break  over  the  threshold  into  the 


PROJECTS   IN   THE    SCHOOL  II 

school.  The  project  idea  suits  our  present  needs  because 
it  tosses  aside  our  conventional  abstractions  and  sets  up 
a  larger  practical  unit  of  knowledge  as  the  basis  of  study. 
We  have  been  dealing  with  things  of  minor  import  till  we 
have  lost  sight  of  the  centers  of  thought,  the  big  object 
lessons.  We  have  devoted  ourselves  to  facts,  mere  facts, 
isolated  facts,  —  yes,  detached  and  meaningless  facts. 
The  children  have  been  surfeited  with  facts.  But  it  is 
time  to  stop  making  collections  of  blank  cartridges  and 
begin  to  gather  only  those  things  that  have  explosive  ma- 
terial in  them.  Again,  we  have  played  with  school  phrases 
and  generalities  and  summaries  till  they  cease  to  express 
thought.  It  is  time  to  cast  out  this  mummery  and  to  deal 
with  live  thoughts  embodied  in  real  projects. 

The  term  project  suggests  a  return  to  life,  to  business,  to 
applied  science,  to  daily  duties  and  common  human  needs, 
to  forces  operative  in  the  concrete  world.  The  school  is 
absorbing  into  itself  as  fast  as  it  can  the  big  things  of  life, 
the  schemes  that  men  and  women  are  chiefly  concerned 
about,  and  these  are  becoming  our  school  topics.  The 
project  accentuates  this  demand  for  the  practical  and 
demonstrable.  By  a  proper  extension  of  the  term  it  in- 
cludes several  groups  of  big,  constructive  units  of  study  in 
history  and  geography  and  science,  and  culminates  in  the 
masterpieces  of  literature  and  works  of  art,  as  poems, 
buildings,  sculptures,  and  paintings,  because  these  at 
their  best  are  great  designs  worked  out  by  artists  to  express 
the  mind's  boldest  flights  into  the  world  of  experience,  the 
supreme  purposes  and  projects  that  men  have  conceived. 

The  project,  as  such,  is  an  apt  device  for  teaching,  be- 
cause it  touches  off  any  important  enterprise  at  its  most 
interesting  crisis,  namely,  at  that  juncture  where  it  is  in 


12  TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 

the  initial  process  of   being  brought  into  shape  in  the 

mind.     Pedagogically ,  we  might  call  this  "  the  nick  of  time  " 

in  thinking  out  any  enterprise.     At  this  point  it 

The  project,  .     J 

a  scheme  in  shows  itself  m  its  freshness  and  newness,  its  ex- 
pectation, its  purpose.  Its  growth  from  this  initial 
stage  should  be  natural  and  progressive.  Let  the  project 
develop  in  its  own  way,  revealing  its  ugly  form  or  its  pleasant 
aspect  as  it  will.  The  succession  of  problems  will  follow 
in  due  order.  The  important  project  is  always  a  problem 
and  a  mother  of  problems.  The  demand  of  the  hour  is  to 
have  a  chance  to  think,  to  knit  the  brow  in  thought  prob- 
lems, to  struggle  with  a  difficult  and  critical  situation  till 
a  solution  of  the  problem  is  discovered.  Live  projects, 
wisely  selected,  not  only  set  up  serious  problems,  but  they 
draw  in  their  wake  the  knowledge  materials  required  for 
the  understanding  and  solution  of  the  problems  involved. 
Big  projects  are  deeply  rooted  in  the  strong  knowledge 
elements  of  the  important  studies.  A  deeper  and  richer 
scholarship  inevitably  clusters  and  organizes  itself  around 
the  main  projects.  This  is  so  because  our  modern  social 
and  industrial  problems  have  sprung  directly  out  of  a  full 
field  of  scientific,  historical,  and  economic  knowledge. 
These  deep,  abundant  sources  of  knowledge  are  our  neces- 
sary tools  in  working  out  our  projects.  Extensive  and 
up-to-date  knowledge  is  requisite  to  work  out  and  under- 
stand these  practical  projects.  One  proof  of  this  need  for 
depth  and  richness  of  knowledge  in  discussing  these  projects 
is  the  fact  that  even  trained  experts  in  the  various  special 
lines  are  required  in  all  these  big,  practical  enterprises. 

We  have  been  discussing  the  word  project  as  denoting 
something  objective  and  concrete.  But  back  of  this,  its 
real  meaning  lies  in  an  idea,  in  something  thought  out  and 


PROJECTS   IN   THE    SCHOOL  13 

clearly  conceived,  first  as  a  mental  product,  later  to  be 
worked  over  and  transformed  into  a  concrete  reality.     The 
synonyms  of  the  word  project  are  scheme,  plan,  de- 
sign. In  this  sense  the  project  is  first  of  all  a  clear,  a  mental" 
clean-cut,  intellectual  grasp  of  a  whole  complex  concept  to 

0       r  be  realized 

situation.  It  corresponds  to  the  well-worked-out 
design  of  the  architect  which  expresses  the  plan  of  a  great 
building.  The  project  is  a  strongly,  wisely  organized  body 
of  thought  focused  upon  an  important  center  of  practical 
knowledge  with  a  definite  purpose.  It  is  the  intellectual 
formulation  and  mastery  of  a  problematic  situation  as  a 
preparation  for  its  practical  execution.  It  leads  on  through 
a  series  of  wisely  controlled  actions.  In  the  idea  of  the 
project  lies  also  the  impulse  to  realize  it,  to  carry  out  the 
purpose  clearly  conceived,  for  example,  the  sinking  of  a 
shaft  for  the  purpose  of  exploiting  a  coal  bed.  This  demand 
for  clear  thinking  as  a  basis  for  later  action,  leading  on 
naturally  to  a  complete  accomplishment,  makes  the  project 
an  ideal  basis  for  teaching  and  for  lesson  planning.  The 
project  sets  up  something  clear  and  complete  in  thought 
but  lacking  in  fulfillment.  It  sets  up  the  demand  for  full 
realization,  and  this  is  a  dynamic  quality  which  energizes 
effort  in  the  right  direction. 

Standing  out  prominently,  almost  objectively,  as  a  clearly 
thought  plan  to  be  converted  into  reality,  the  project  con- 
tains the  most  important  elements  of  a  standard  , 

r  Standard 

unit  of  mental  effort.  First,  it  is  an  important  elements  in 
whole.  Secondly,  it  is  dynamic  in  its  essential  a  pro 
forward  movement.  Thirdly,  it  organizes  and  uses  knowledge 
on  the  basis  of  a  definite  purpose.  Fourthly,  it  sets  up  a 
series  of  problems  requiring  continuous,  rational  effort. 
Fifthly,  it  works  out  a  practical  result  which  is  embodied 


14  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

in  a  concrete  object  or  situation  in  real  life.  Sixthly,  as  an 
end  result  of  the  whole  movement,  from  original  conception 
to  final  objective  realization,  it  leaves  in  the  mind  a  knowl- 
edge product  which  serves  to  introduce  and  explain  other 
kindred  projects.  It  has  a  future  as  well  as  a  past  and 
connects  up  between  the  two.  Thus  it  contributes  to  the 
continuous  organization  of  knowledge. 

Important  projects,  therefore,  carefully  selected  in  the 
various  studies,  are  the  practical  units  of  thought,  the  organ- 
izing centers,  where  knowledge  is  collected  and 
SCth°ex  Pr°J"  mcorPorated  into  those  powerful  agencies  which 
press  and  carry  on  the  world's  business.  Thinking  out 
m^erpre  an(j  understanding  these  projects  puts  the  student 
into  the  stream  of  action,  into  the  current  of  life. 
We  demand  that  education  be  a  preparation  for  life,  but 
it  can  be  this  only  by  identifying  itself  with  the  main  enter- 
prises going  on  in  life,  that  is,  with  enterprises  which  have 
developed  under  life  conditions.  Many  of  these  enterprises 
are  now  active  agencies,  organizing  and  directing  the  social 
and  industrial  forces  of  the  world.  Others  have  grown 
up  in  the  past  and  have  created  institutions  which  are  still 
powerful  as  life  centers.  Still  others  are  mainly  historical, 
but  carry  important  lessons  to  us  from  past  experience. 
The  building  and  equipment  of  a  monastery  in  medieval 
times  was  in  those  days  a  vital,  living  project.  Hannibal's 
march  across  the  Alps  to  attack  Rome  was  a  well-matured 
project.  Hercules'  scheme  for  cleansing  the  Augean  stables 
was  a  true  project  in  the  modern  sense.  Joseph's  far- 
sighted  scheme  for  dealing  with  the  wheat  crop  of  Egypt 
during  the  seven  full  years  was  a  great  project. 

But  it  is  the  projects  of  modern  life  and  society  that  most 
concern  us.     In  the  short  period  of  school  life  children 


PROJECTS    IN   THE    SCHOOL  1  5 

should  be  led  on  till  they  gain  insight,  one  after  another, 
into  the  masterful  projects  that  concern  the  progress  and 
welfare  of  the  people  in  their  struggles  to  master  the 
bountiful  resources  of  nature.  Such  schemes  concretely 
worked  out  form  naturally  the  big  centers  of  study.  They 
designate  the  main  channels  along  which  human  life  has 
organized  its  experiences  and  converted  them  into  institu- 
tions through  which  men  have  been  able  to  accomplish 
their  purposes.  These  very  projects,  already  organized  by 
experience  into  complete  schemes  and  processes  for  accom- 
plishing the  chief  purposes  of  life,  are  the  best  units  of 
study  for  the  schools. 

Nor  are  these  projects  new  or  foreign  to  our  present 
school  course.     A  keener  and  closer  inspection  of  these 
project-topics  will  discover  that  they  deal  with 
the  self-same  concepts  which  are  now  treated  in  Proj'66*8  »™ 

a  stronger 
the  textbooks.     But   only  the  more  significant  handling  of 


subjects  dealt  with  in  the  books  are  selected,  and 
by  intensive  treatment  brought  into  marked 
prominence.  They  are  given  an  emphasis  and  a  fullness 
of  descriptive  exposition  which  are  surprising.  They  are 
not  new,  and  yet  one  thing  in  them  is  strangely  new.  They 
are  dressed  up  in  their  proper  clothing.  We  do  not  recog- 
nize them  at  first  because  we  never  before  saw  them  in  full 
equipment  and  with  an  adequate  setting.  For  example,  the 
increase  of  corn  production  in  the  United  States,  the  project 
of  developing  San  Francisco  harbor,  the  building  up  and 
life  history  of  Mount  Shasta,  the  purpose  of  Ernest  in  the 
story  of  the  Great  Stone  Face,  how  the  blood  circulates  and 
performs  its  functions,  the  laying  out  of  the  school  and 
home  garden,  a  class  at  work  dramatizing  the  story  of 
William  Tell,  the  designing  and  construction  of  a  bird  house. 


1 6  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

These  and  many  more  like  them  are  not  new  topics.  They 
are  simply  familiar  topics  enlarged  into  proper  units  of 
purposeful  effort.  They  are  fully  embodied  and  demon- 
strated life  problems.  They  are  suggested  and  put  before 
children  in  this  more  complete  form  to  stimulate  thought, 
to  put  the  minds  of  children  into  natural,  spontaneous 
action  toward  worthy  ends. 

Conclusion. 

Projects  reorganize  the  best  knowledge  materials  of  the 
elementary  school  around  practical  life  centers.  The 
smaller  projects  of  children  grow  into  the  greater  projects 
of  the  community  and  of  society.  These  projects  develop 
everywhere  through  series  of  problems  undertaken  with  set 
purpose  to  realize  important  ends.  The  teaching  possi- 
bilities that  open  up  through  the  steady  schoolroom  pur- 
suit of  these  developing  projects  are  both  interesting  and 
remarkable. 

A  FORECAST 

If  the  project  is  once  accepted  as  the  true  type  of  knowl- 
edge organized  for  teaching  uses,  it  sets  up  the  large  unit  of 
study  as  a  basis  for  selecting  and  treating  school  subjects. 

The  big  unit  of  study  is  a  superior  substitute  for  the  present 
somewhat  miscellaneous  collections.  It  is  the  clear  demon- 
stration of  a  reconstructive  principle  which  is  now  at  work 
rebuilding  our  courses  of  study  and  reorganizing  our  class- 
room instruction. 

We  have  already  gone  to  the  limit  of  filling  up  our 
curriculum  with  all  kinds  of  information  and  with  many 
forms  of  activity.  We  have  been  so  busy  collecting  these 
varied  materials  that  we  have  not  yet  had  time  and  strength 


PROJECTS   IN    THE    SCHOOL  17 

to  simplify  and  organize.  The  big,  central  unit  of  growing 
knowledge,  the  project,  is  the  sure  corrective  to  our  present 
fragmentary  accumulations  of  knowledge. 

The  adoption  of  such  large  standard  units  of  organized 
knowledge  points  directly  toward  a  simplified  course  of 
study  and  to  a  sound  basis  for  lesson  planning. 

A  second  point  of  almost  equal  importance  is  the  out- 
standing objective  character  of  the  project.  It  is  never 
abstract  and  general.  It  is  incurably  objective.  Teachers 
and  textbooks  drift  almost  invariably  into  abstract  forms. 
But  the  acceptance  of  the  project  strikes  the  death  blow  at 
this  prevailing  tendency  toward  abstract  method  in  teach- 
ing. 

The  following  chapters  will  elaborate  the  above-men- 
tioned points. 


CHAPTER  II 
EXAMPLES  OF  COMPLETE  PROJECTS 

A  BETTER  understanding  of  the  meaning  and  scope  of  these 
school  projects  may  be  gained  from  complete  illustrations. 
This  chapter  is  given  over  to  such  illustrations.  Several 
projects  are  here  worked  out  tentatively  as  suitable  for 
school  use.  In  the  later  chapters  other  projects  are  in- 
troduced to  illustrate  special  points  and  are  developed  on 
a  still  larger  scale.  Many  other  school  projects  have  been 
more  or  less  elaborately  worked  out  as  monographs  and  are 
published  in  pamphlet  or  book  form.  In  the  following 
chapters  frequent  use  is  made  (by  reference)  of  these  at- 
tempts to  put  projects  into  the  form  of  complete  units  of 
study.  The  project  type  of  organization,  as  exhibited  in 
these  illustrations,  helps  to  clear  up  the  principles  of  method 
as  directly  applied  to  subject  matter  in  teaching. 

GARDEN  PROJECTS 

The  planning  of  a  school  or  home  garden  is  a  project 
which  has  come  into  vogue  in  many  schools  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  country.  The  garden  work,  planned  for  a  season, 
is  not  only  a  practical  project,  but  it  develops  into  a  whole 
series  of  minor  projects  which  spring  out  of  individual  or 
family  needs.  The  following  table  of  contents  gives  the 
series  of  topics  treated  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "The  School 

18 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE   PROJECTS  19 

and  Home  Garden." l  Without  premeditated  effort  to 
emphasize  the  project  idea,  it  evidently  consists  of  a  series 
of  projects  carried  out  in  the  natural  order  of  development. 
The  initial  project,  the  measuring  and  staking  out  of  the 
garden  plot,  is  clearly  shown  by  the  chart  on  the  following 
page.  One  of  the  minor  projects  is  shown  hi  the  sketch 
of  the  hotbed. 

PROGRESS   HILL   SCHOOL   GARDEN 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

1.  Introduction. 

2.  Making  a  Garden  Survey. 

3.  Planning  the  Garden. 

4.  Laying  Off  the  Garden. 

5.  Preparation  of  the  Soil  for  Planting. 

6.  Laying  Off  the  Individual  Plots. 

7.  Making  the  Garden  Paths. 

8.  Selecting  the  Garden  Vegetables. 

9.  Study  of  Succession  Crop  Chart. 

10.  Frost  Data  for  Georgia. 

1 1 .  Testing  Seeds  for  Weeds  and  Vitality. 

12.  Planting  the  Garden. 

13.  Keeping  the  Garden  Calendar. 

14.  Germination. 

15.  Making  the  Cold  Frame. 

16.  Making  the  Hotbed. 

17.  Cultivating  the  Garden. 

1 8.  Thinning  and  Transplanting. 

19.  A  Study  of  Soils. 

20.  Studying  Legumes  as  Fertilizers. 

21.  The  Home  Garden. 

22.  Plan  for  a  Home  Garden. 

23.  Plan  for  Home  Project  Work  in  Gardening. 

1  "The  School  and  Home  Garden,"  by  Miss  Sue  C.  Cleaton,  in  Type 
Studies  and  Lesson  Plans,  Pcabody  College,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


20 


TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 


34.  Experimental  Plots  and  Tests. 

25.  Studying  Weeds. 

26.  Studying  Diseases  and  Insects. 

27.  Birds. 

28.  Methods  of  Control  of  Insects  and  Diseases. 

29.  Resistant  Varieties. 

30.  Sprays  and  Directions  for  Using  Them. 

31.  Spray  Calendar  for  Garden  Diseases  and  Insects. 

32.  Cooperative  Marketing. 

33.  Saving  the  Surplus. 

34.  Preparation  of  the  Garden  for  the  Summer  Vacation. 

35.  Beautifying  the  School  Grounds. 

36.  A  Comparison  of  Garden  Reports. 

37.  Report  of  Home  Gardens. 


SHOWING  CONSTRUCTION  OF  A  HOTBED 


LIST  OF  A  FEW  HOME  AND  FARM  PROJECTS 

Concreting  a  basement  floor ;  papering  and  decorating  a 
family  living  room ;  building  a  tree  house ;  making  a  tool 
chest;  supplying  the  kitchen  with  running  water;  build- 
ing and  hanging  a  gate ;  constructing  a  corn  crib ;  planning 
and  laying  a  tile  for  drainage;  planning  and  building  a 
chicken  house;  putting  in  an  asparagus  bed;  the  con- 
struction of  a  fireplace  and  chimney ;  building  a  silo. 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE   PROJECTS 


21 


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22  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

THE  CITY  OF  WASHINGTON,  A  PROJECT 

The  founding  and  building  up  of  Washington  as  a  capital 
city  may  be  used  as  an  example  of  a  project  which  has  been 
developing  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  and  is  still  in 
progress. 

After  Congress  had  decided  that  the  new  capital  should 
be  located  at  some  point  on  the  Potomac,  George  Washing- 
ton was  authorized  to  select  a  site  and  lay  out  the  pre- 
liminary plans.  Washington  cherished  the  idea  that  the 
new  city  should  be  conceived  as  a  grand  project  destined 
to  grow  into  a  magnificent  capital.  He  had  a  large  con- 
ception of  the  future  of  our  country,  and  the  new  capital 
city  was  to  correspond  to  this  idea  in  its  development. 

Washington  chose  for  his  adviser  in  planning  the  city  an 
eminent  French  engineer,  L'Enfant,  who  had  served  in  the 
Revolution,  and  explained  to  him  his  great  conception  of 
the  coming  city.  Jefferson  had  collected  in  Europe  a 
number  of  carefully  drawn  plans  of  European  cities  and 
these  were  sent  to  L'Enfant  for  his  study. 

After  a  careful  survey  of  the  present  site  of  Washington, 
then  an  open  farming  country,  L'Enfant  projected  a  grand 
city  plan  for  the  street  system,  including  the  chief  locations 
for  public  buildings  and  squares.  The  streets  were  very 
broad,  from  80  to  160  feet,  meeting  at  right  angles  north 
and  south,  east  and  west.  To  give  variety  to  this  plan, 
at  two  central  points  in  the  city,  circles  or  squares  were 
established  from  which  broad  avenues  radiated  in  all  direc- 
tions, intersecting  the  other  streets.  The  Capitol  square 
and  that  on  which  the  White  House  stands  form  such 
centers  for  street  radiation,  and  these  centers  themselves 
are  connected  by  broad  avenues. 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE   PROJECTS  23 

An  examination  of  the  street  system  of  Paris  will  reveal 
similar  centers  of  organization  for  the  street  system. 
Washington  thus  may  be  said  to  be  built  in  part  upon  a 
French  plan. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  fixes  the 
framework  of  our  government,  may  be  said,  also,  to  de- 
termine the  two  chief  centers  for  the  capital  city.  At 
least  Washington  has  two  focal  points  in  its  organization 
as  a  federal  capital,  namely  the  Capitol  Building  and  the 
White  House,  which  are  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  apart 
and  are  connected  by  the  broad  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 
The  third  department  of  government,  namely,  the  ju- 
diciary, does  not  figure  prominently  in  the  architecture 
and  street  system  of  the  city.  The  reason  for  this  may  be 
worth  looking  into. 

For  many  years  after  its  first  beginnings  the  city  of 
Washington  failed  to  live  up  to  these  grand  expectations. 
It  was  a  big  city  only  in  name  and  on  paper.  Its  streets 
were  muddy  and  its  few  public  buildings  were  far  apart. 
Its  straggling  houses  sprawled  out  over  a  vast  area  and  it 
was  long  known,  in  a  joking  way,  as  the  city  of  magnificent 
distances.  It  was  not  unlike  the  United  States  itself 
during  that  early  period,  consisting  in  large  part  of  vast 
unexplored  and  undeveloped  regions.  As  a  capital  city 
Washington  was  as  yet  an  unrealized  project.  And  yet 
the  nation  was  growing  rapidly  and  Washington  soon  began 
to  show  signs  of  a  corresponding  growth. 

The  best  way  to  understand  Washington,  therefore,  is 
first  to  examine  the  large-minded,  prophetic  plan  under 
which  it  started  out,  the  early  halting  steps  at  progress, 
and  the  occasional  relapses.  In  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  and  again  after  the  Civil  War,  the  early, 


24  TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 

comprehensive  plan  of  the  city  seems  to  have  been  over- 
looked or  disregarded,  and  a  few  great  federal  buildings 
were  wrongly  designed  and  placed,  as  the  Treasury  Building, 
and  the  great  State,  War,  and  Navy  Building.  In  later 
years  came  stronger  and  more  successful  efforts  to  work 
out  the  great  original  design.  In  fact  the  development 
of  the  governmental  departments  in  Washington  reflects 
in  a  striking  way  the  main  stages  in  the  rapid  progress  of 
our  country  in  the  first  century  and  a  quarter  of  its 
growth. 

The  main  building  in  Washington,  and  we  may  say  the 
chief  structure  of  its  kind  for  the  entire  nation,  is  the  great 
Capitol,  with  its  massive  dome  dominating  the  scenery  of 
Washington.  It  stands  upon  an  eminence  nearly  a  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  Potomac.  The  cornerstone  of  this 
great  building  was  laid  by  George  Washington  in  1793. 
It  was  then  in  an  open  country,  now  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
city.  The  central  structure,  now  only  a  part  of  the  whole, 
was  large  enough  to  serve  for  both  houses  of  Congress  till 
the  Civil  War  period.  The  old  Senate  Chamber  is  now  the 
Supreme  Court  Room,  the  original  House  of  Representa- 
tives is  now  the  Hall  of  Statuary.  The  two  vast  wings  of 
the  Capitol,  later  built,  contain  at  present  the  Senate 
Chamber  and  the  House  of  Representatives. 

As  the  nation  expanded  westward  and  new  states  were 
added,  the  legislative  department  of  the  government  had 
to  expand  to  meet  the  larger  needs.  Not  only  so,  but  this 
large  Capitol  is  now  flanked  on  the  north  and  south  by 
two  noble  architectural  structures,  the  Senate  Office  Build- 
ing and  the  House  Office  Building,  for  the  special  service 
of  Congress.  They  contain  six  hundred  rooms  for  the  use 
of  members  of  Congress  as  offices  for  the  transaction  of 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE    PROJECTS  2$ 

legislative  business  and  are  completely  equipped  for  these 
purposes. 

Across  the  park  that  fronts  the  Capitol  is  the  magnificent 
Library  of  Congress,  a  constant  reminder  to  members  of 
Congress  that  if  they  lack  knowledge  and  wisdom  with 
which  to  serve  their  country,  here  is  the  place  to  find  it. 
In  this  beautiful  and  stately  building  are  extensive  col- 
lections of  the  most  valuable  books  and  reports,  well  ar- 
ranged and  easily  accessible.  Here  members  of  Congress 
and  other  officials  may  inform  themselves  on  all  important 
subjects  so  that  they  may  legislate  more  wisely  for 
a  great  nation.  Copies  of  all  books  published  in  this 
country  are  sent  to  the  Library  of  Congress,  and  other 
books  from  all  nations  and  in  all  languages  are  gathered 
here  and  made  available.  This  national  library  has  a 
capacity  for  4,500,000  volumes.  The  marble  halls  and 
interior  decorations  of  this  building  are  beautiful  beyond 
description  and  are  deserving  of  prolonged  visit  and  study. 

Around  this  park  fronting  the  main  Capitol  are  thus 
grouped  four  great  buildings  devoted  mainly  to  the  business 
of  lawmaking  and  for  the  convenience  of  the  lawmakers. 
Then:  total  cost  was  $25,000,000.  At  this  center  and  in 
these  buildings  are  gathered,  when  Congress  is  in  session, 
the  representatives  from  every  state  and  district  in  the 
nation  to  make  laws  for  the  government  of  all  the  people 
in  the  states. 

A  mile  and  a  quarter  away,  at  the  other  end  of  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue,  the  White  House  stands  at  the  center  of  an- 
other group  of  national  buildings,  representing  the  adminis- 
trative department  of  the  government.  The  White  House 
is  first  of  all  the  home  of  the  President,  where  he  lives  with 
his  family.  It  is  also  his  official  residence  as  President. 


26  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

Clustered  about  it,  some  nearer  and  some  farther,  is  a  group 
of  department  buildings  where  tens  of  thousands  of  clerks 
and  officials  are  engaged  in  public  affairs.  Just  east  of 
the  White  House  is  the  Treasury  Building,  and  on  the 
west  the  great  State,  War,  and  Navy  Building.  The 
cabinet  ministers  have  their  headquarters  in  these  and 
other  administrative  buildings.  With  the  growth  of  the 
business  of  the  nation  the  cabinet  has  been  enlarged  from 
time  to  time  by  adding  new  departments  and  by  extending 
the  government  service  into  new  fields.  The  Post  Office, 
for  example,  has  extended  and  enlarged  its  service  until 
it  reaches  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  land,  and  is  now 
identified  with  the  business  interests  and  home  life  of  all 
the  people.  The  Patent  Office,  with  its  vast  collection  of 
scientific  and  practical  inventions,  expresses  the  progress 
of  the  nation  in  ten  thousand  ingenious  ways.  By  the  ex- 
pansion of  its  various  departments  of  government  service, 
Washington  has  become  a  busy  hive  of  workers  in  the 
state  employ.  In  the  recent  emergency  of  a  great  war, 
demanding  thousands  of  additional  helpers,  Washington 
could  scarcely  house  and  entertain  the  great  influx  of  clerks, 
stenographers,  and  specialists  urgently  required.  Visitors 
and  leaders  from  all  parts  of  the  country  also  flocked  to 
Washington  on  public  and  private  business.  Before  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  the  city  had  grown  to  a  population 
of  350,000,  and  now  it  is  much  greater.  Instead  of  being 
scattered  out  over  empty  spaces,  as  once,  the  city  is  now 
well  built  with  beautiful  homes  and  avenues  and  is  crowded 
to  the  limit.  Baltimore  and  other  neighboring  cities  must 
help  take  care  of  the  overflow  population. 

George  Washington,  before  a  house  was  built,  had  a  noble 
conception  of  a  spacious  and  beautiful  capital  city  which 


EXAMPLES    OF    COMPLETE    PROJECTS  2^ 

would  suit  the  character  and  needs  of  a  great  and  ever  ex- 
panding nation.  The  plan  he  adopted  looked  far  into  the 
future  and  contemplated  a  capital  city  worthy  of  America. 
The  plan  projected  by  L 'Enfant  and  Washington  has  been 
in  large  measure  adhered  to,  but  in  recent  years  a  still 
greater  conception  of  a  capital  city  in  harmony  with  modern 
ideas  of  art  and  architecture,  of  sanitation  and  municipal 
improvements,  has  come  into  view. 

In  order  to  project  a  plan  on  this  more  expanded  scale, 
with  due  regard  to  the  best  architectural  and  artistic  ideas, 
there  was  appointed  in  1901  a  commission  of  notable  archi- 
tects and  artists  who  developed  and  reported  to  Congress  a 
complete  scheme  of  future  improvement,  using  the  old  plan 
of  L 'Enfant  and  Washington  as  the  basis.  In  the  improve- 
ments more  recently  planned  and  now  in  process  of  exe- 
cution the  enlarged  design  of  the  commission  has  been 
followed. 

In  an  article  in  the  National  Geographic  Magazine  for 
March,  1915,  Ex-President  Taft  has  set  forth  the  advantages 
of  this  elaborate  and  complete  plan  for  the  development 
and  beautification  of  the  capital  city.  A  full  series  of 
drawings  and  panoramic  views  of  the  projected  improve- 
ments is  worked  out  with  colored  charts.  These  plans 
are  likely  to  be  carried  forward  and  will  make  Washington 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  beautiful  capital  cities  of 
the  world.  Noble,  sanitary,  artistic  city  planning  is  to-day 
one  of  the  chief  concerns  of  the  people  in  all  parts  of  our 
country.  Washington  should  be  a  shining  example  of 
great  city-building.  It  will  be  one  of  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  our  time  to  make  the  capital  city,  Washington, 
a  first-class  illustration  of  architectural  and  sanitary  street 
planning,  of  the  artistic  designing  and  grouping  of  public 


28  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

buildings  and  parks,  of  beautiful  and  imposing  historic 
monuments,  of  first-class  management  of  public  utilities 
such  as  lighting,  water  supply,  and  car  service,  of  libraries 
and  education,  and  of  beautiful,  homelike,  residential 
streets. 

This  modernized,  elaborate  plan  for  the  city-beautiful 
in  Washington  has  for  its  central  landmark  the  lofty 
Washington  Monument.  Along  the  axis  of  the  Mall, 
stretching  westward  from  the  Capitol  Building  past  the 
monument  to  the  Lincoln  Memorial  on  the  bank  of  the 
Potomac,  will  be  a  great  series  of  parks  and  public  buildings. 
At  right  angles  to  this  a  similar  series  of  parks  and  great 
structures  will  stretch  from  the  White  House  and  grounds 
past  the  Monument  to  the  Potomac  near  the  harbor.  A 
great  memorial  bridge  will  reach  across  the  Potomac  from 
the  Lincoln  center  to  Arlington.  This  scheme  contemplates 
an  extensive  series  of  parks,  boulevards,  and  bridges  stretch- 
ing into  the  environs  of  Washington  and  reaching  even  to 
the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  twelve  miles  above  the 
city.  It  is  a  magnificent  dream  of  city  improvement  and 
decoration. 

The  history  of  the  original  planning  of  the  city  and  the 
more  than  one  hundred  years  of  progress  along  the  lines 
laid  out  by  Washington  form  a  great  page  in  our  national 
story,  but  the  outlook  to-day  is  for  a  far  greater  achieve- 
ment, one  perhaps  that  would  astonish  and  delight  even 
the  prophetic  eye  of  Washington.  It  will  always  be  pre- 
eminently the  city  of  George  Washington,  and  yet  Lincoln 
in  the  natural  order  has  come  to  share  on  equal  terms  the 
honors  of  the  national  capital. 

As  the  plans  already  outlined  are  carried  into  execution, 
Washington  will  become  more  and  more  a  place  of  profound 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE    PROJECTS  2Q 

interest  and  pride  to  all  Americans.  Every  boy  and  girl 
should  have  a  chance  sooner  or  later  to  visit  this  city  and 
should  read  and  study  our  national  history  in  its  streets 
and  monuments  and  public  buildings,  and  should  recall 
the  great  historic  occasions  that  form  the  landmarks  in  its 
history. 

The  foregoing  is  little  more  than  an  outline  for  a  study 
of  Washington  in  its  plan  and  growth  and  future.  It 
should  be  reenforced  by  a  careful  examination  of  maps  and 
photographs  and  may  lead  into  special  features  connected 
with  famous  men  and  events  in  Washington. 

Washington  differs  from  all  other  cities  in  this  country 
because  of  the  complete  dominance  of  the  governmental 
idea.  This  also  leads  naturally  to  the  study  of  public 
buildings  and  architecture,  and  likewise  into  biography 
and  history. 

Washington  exhibits  in  a  concrete  form  the  chief  phases 
of  active  government.  When  the  city  plan  is  thought  of 
as  a  great  project,  growing  and  expanding  with  the  increas- 
ing demands  of  government,  it  becomes  an  illuminating 
study  of  our  national  life.  References  for  further  study 
may  be  named  as  follows : 

Washington  Standard  Guide. 

National  Geographic  Magazine,  Vol.  27,  1915. 

A  BOYS'  PROJECT 

THE    OVERLAND    TRIP   TO    CALIFORNIA    IN    '49 

In  the  winter  of  1848  John  Turner  and  his  brother,  living 
near  Chicago,  decided  to  start  for  the  gold  fields  of  Cali- 
fornia in  the  following  spring.  They  were  under  twenty 
years  of  age,  but  they  were  enthusiastic  in  studying  maps 


30  TEACHING    BY    PROJECTS 

of  the  western  country  and  in  making  preparations  for  the 
journey.  At  that  time  there  were  no  railroads  west  of 
Chicago,  and  very  few  towns  west  of  the  Mississippi.  A 
strongly  built,  covered  wagon  was  secured,  and,  before 
starting,  was  well  filled  with  the  tools,  clothing,  provisions, 
camp  equipment,  guns  and  ammunition,  saddles,  harness, 
medicines,  and  trinkets  that  would  be  needed  in  the  long 
trip  across  plains  and  mountains. 

The  Turner  boys  hired  another  young  man  to  go  with 
them,  and,  supplied  with  six  horses,  they  started  in  March 
for  the  distant  gold  fields.  In  the  journey  across  northern 
Illinois  they  toiled  along  muddy  spring  roads,  and  forded  the 
streams,  camping  out  at  night.  At  Rock  Island  they  were 
carried  across  the  Mississippi  on  a  steam  ferryboat  and 
started  over  the  wild  prairie  and  grasslands  of  Iowa.  Other 
gold  seekers  were  traveling  in  the  same  direction,  and  they 
did  not  lack  company. 

At  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  Missouri,  the  boys  halted 
for  two  weeks,  and  there  joined  a  caravan  of  fifteen  wagons 
and  forty-two  men  for  the  trip  across  the  plains  of  Nebraska. 
Having  crossed  the  Missouri  River,  the  long  train  of  wagons 
and  horses  slowly  followed  the  valley  of  the  Platte  River 
westward.  Keeping  close  to  the  river  they  found  plenty 
of  water,  wood  for  their  camp  fires,  and  grassy  meadows 
where  their  horses  could  be  picketed  to  graze  of  evenings 
and  mornings.  There  was  good  hunting  in  the  woods 
bordering  the  river.  Crossing  the  river,  occasionally 
on  log  rafts,  they  pushed  on  westward  till  they  came 
to  the  buffalo  country.  Here  the  extra  horses  and  rifles 
came  into  use.  The  boys  left  their  man  on  the  road  to 
drive  the  heavy  wagon,  while  they  mounted  horses  and 
rode  out  upon  the  plains  to  chase  and  kill  the  buffalo. 


EXAMPLES    OF   COMPLETE    PROJECTS  31 

At  that  time  vast  herds  of  buffalo  wandered  over  these 
grassy  plains,  coming  to  the  river  to  drink.  At  night  the 
men  all  came  together  at  the  camp,  and  around  the  blazing 
camp  fires  cooked  the  choice  parts  of  the  buffalo  and 
cracked  open  the  thigh  bones  for  the  precious  marrow. 

After  a  week  or  two  of  this  kind  of  sport,  when  the 
horses  were  tired  out  with  chasing  the  buffalo  and  with 
hauling  the  heavy  wagons,  they  halted  at  a  grassy  meadow, 
pitched  their  tents,  and  went  into  camp  for  two  weeks. 
Bringing  out  their  tools  and  a  forge  they  repaired  then- 
wagons,  reshod  their  horses,  mended  their  harness  and 
clothing,  brought  in  the  buffalo  meat  from  the  chase  and 
cut  it  into  long  strips  to  be  hung  up  and  dried. 

The  Sioux  Indians  from  the  north  at  one  time  threat- 
ened then-  camp,  but  the  pioneers  quickly  formed  a  barri- 
cade of  their  wagons,  and  the  Indians,  though  strong  in 
numbers,  were  afraid  to  attack  the  camp  defended  by 
more  than  forty  good  riflemen.  The  Indians  rode  off  and 
were  not  seen  again. 

After  two  weeks  of  rest  and  refitting  they  broke  camp 
and  started  for  the  mountains,  still  following  the  Platte 
along  the  North  Fork  into  the  foothills.  Crossing  the 
main  ridge  at  South  Pass,  near  where  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  was  later  built,  they  descended  the  dry,  desert- 
like  slopes  of  the  mountains  to  the  west,  almost  starving 
for  water  before  they  reached  a  branch  of  the  Green  River. 
From  a  high  ridge  four  miles  away  they  saw  the  sparkling 
waters  of  this  stream  and  rushed  down  the  slope  and 
plunged,  man  and  horse,  into  the  stream,  where  they 
slaked  their  thirst.  Pushing  on  through  the  mountains, 
they  at  last  reached  the  small  village  of  Salt  Lake,  founded 
a  few  years  before  by  the  Mormons.  Here  they  rested 


32-  TEACHING    BY    PROJECTS 

for  two  weeks  from  their  hard  journey  across  the  moun- 
tains and  prepared  to  cross  the  salt  deserts  beyond  Salt 
Lake.  This  broad  lake  in  the  midst  of  the  western  moun- 
tains was  a  refreshing  sight  to  the  well-worn  travelers. 
Fremont  and  his  men  had  been  the  first  to  explore  this 
lake  about  six  years  before  in  his  famous  pioneer  trip  across 
the  mountains. 

At  Salt  Lake  the  Turner  boys  joined  themselves  to 
another  caravan  of  emigrants  and  all  started  across  the 
deserts.  It  was  a  tedious  march  for  men  and  animals, 
and  when  they  reached  the  grasslands  about  the  head- 
waters of  the  Humboldt  River,  all  were  tired  out.  Three 
men  were  selected  to  guard  the  camp  and  the  rest  at  once 
fell  asleep.  But  the  guards,  too,  were  weary,  and  were 
soon  overcome  with  sleep.  While  the  whole  camp  slum- 
bered, the  prowling,  thieving  Snake  Indians  from  the 
north  crept  into  camp,  cut  the  ropes  that  held  the  mules 
and  horses,  and  drove  them  all  off.  Some  four  hours 
later,  when  the  men  awoke,  they  found  not  a  single  animal, 
and  the  whole  company  was  thus  left  in  the  wilderness, 
hundreds  of  miles  from  California,  with  their  heavily 
loaded  wagons  but  no  animals.  In  this  distress  they 
selected  six  of  their  strongest  men,  who  were  sent  in  rapid 
pursuit  of  the  Indians.  Traveling  day  and  night  for  three 
days  they  were  unable  to  overtake  the  retreating  Indians 
with  the  horses.  But  they  chased  them  so  fast  that  the 
Indians  left  behind  a  few  of  the  less  speedy  mules,  and  the 
men  returned  with  these  to  the  camp. 

The  mules  not  being  strong  enough  to  haul  the  heavy 
wagons,  pack  saddles  were  made,  and  the  most  needful 
things  were  loaded  upon  the  backs  of  the  mules,  and  the 
whole  party,  leaving  their  wagons  and  goods  in  the  wilder- 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE    PROJECTS  33 

ness,  journeyed  on  foot  the  rest  of  the  way  to  California. 
They  reached  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Moun- 
tains before  the  winter  snows  set  in.  A  wagon  road  led 
up  one  of  the  valleys  by  a  roundabout  way  across  the 
mountains,  but  the  men  chose  rather  a  foot  path  which 
led  by  a  zigzag  way  directly  over  the  mountains.  Reach- 
ing the  highest  ridges  they  looked  down  into  the  Sacramento 
Valley  in  California,  and  then  followed  the  American 
Fork  down  the  mountain  side  till  they  came  to  the  gold 
diggings. 

The  next  year,  in  making  a  trip  from  the  gold  mines 
to  San  Francisco,  Mr.  Turner  narrates  that  he  noticed 
a  man  ahead  of  him  in  the  road  driving  a  wagon  that 
looked  familiar.  On  coming  up  with  it  he  discovered 
that  it  was  his  own  wagon,  which  he  had  left  the  year 
before  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains  when  the  horses 
were  stolen. 

THE  GREAT  MIGRATION 

The  story  of  the  Turner  boys  illustrates  the  experi- 
ences which  many  other  gold  seekers  had  this  same  year. 
During  the  summer  of  1849  about  forty  thousand  emi- 
grants, men,  women,  and  children,  crossed  the  plains  and 
mountains  to  California.  Many  of  them  suffered  dis- 
tressing hardships  on  the  way  from  sickness  and  death, 
from  lack  of  food,  and  from  Indian  attacks.  A  few  of  them 
came  too  late  to  cross  the  high  mountain  range  before  winter 
set  in  and  were  compelled  to  spend  the  winter  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  because  the  snow  piles 
up  on  these  mountain  ridges  twenty  and  even  forty  feet 
deep  during  the  winter  storms. 

From   New  York  and  other  Eastern  States  thousands 


34  TEACHING    BY    PROJECTS 

of  people  took  ship  for  Panama  and  reached  California 
after  crossing  the  Isthmus  and  taking  ship  on  the  Pacific 
side  for  San  Francisco.  Many  were  taken  sick  with  fever 
at  Panama  and  died  before  the  journey  was  finished. 
Still  others  went  the  long  route  by  ship  around  Cape  Horn 
and  northward  along  the  entire  coast  of  South  America 
to  California.  Other  gold  seekers  came  from  foreign  lands, 
for  the  gold  excitement  had  reached  all  countries. 

As  a  result  of  these  various  migrations  nearly  a  hundred 
thousand  people  reached  California  during  this  first  year 
of  the  gold  excitement.  The  little  adobe  village  of  San 
Francisco  grew  in  one  year  to  a  population  of  twenty 
thousand.  At  first  there  were  many  lawless  men,  who 
committed  crimes  and  outrages,  but  the  better  class  of 
sober  people  soon  organized  government  and  subdued  the 
criminals  and  law-breakers. 

These  things  happened  just  after  the  close  of  the  Mexi- 
can War,  before  which  California  had  belonged  to  Mexico. 
But  before  the  end  of  1849,  the  year  of  the  great  migration, 
the  people  of  California  had  become  so  numerous  that 
they  came  together,  formed  a  constitution,  and  sent  word 
to  Washington  that  they  would  like  to  be  admitted  to  the 
Union  as  a  new  state.  This  brought  on  an  important  crisis 
in  the  political  affairs  of  the  United  States.  California 
had  no  slaves  and  would  naturally  be  admitted  as  a  free 
state.  Bat  this  did  not  please  the  people  of  the  Southern 
States  because  they  feared  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
free  states.  A  fierce  conflict  was  threatened  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  Henry  Clay  returned  to  Washing- 
ton in  his  old  age  and  succeeded  in  his  last  great  compro- 
mise in  quieting  the  storm,  and  California  was  admitted 
to  the  Union. 


EXAMPLES    OF    COMPLETE    PROJECTS  3$ 

The  rapid  increase  of  population  and  wealth  in  Cali- 
fornia led  the  people  to  wish  for  a  closer  connection  be- 
tween the  Eastern  States  and  the  Pacific  Coast.  In  conse- 
quence the  project  of  building  a  Pacific  railroad  was 
proposed  in  1850,  and  every  year  from  that  time  on  the 
matter  was  taken  up  in  Congress.  But  the  North  and 
South,  between  1850  and  1860,  could  not  agree  where  the 
railroad  should  be  built.  Finally  a  bill  of  Congress  was 
signed  by  Lincoln  as  President,  and  the  Union  Pacific 
was  begun,  and  after  several  years  was  completed  in  1869. 

The  gold  discoveries  in  California  led  not  only  to  the 
settlement  of  California,  but  to  the  opening  up  of  Oregon 
and  Washington,  so  that  a  group  of  Pacific  States  was  soon 
growing  up  which  developed  the  resources  of  the  whole 
Pacific  Coast. 

In  1859,  ten  years  after  the  gold  find  in  California, 
important  gold  discoveries  were  made  in  the  Pikes  Peak 
region  of  Colorado,  and  people  flocked  to  this  region  as 
they  had  done  before  to  the  far  West.  Denver  sprang 
up  and  became  a  flourishing  city.  Silver  and  gold  mines 
were  developed  on  a  large  scale,  and  the  discoveries  ex- 
tended further  north  and  south  along  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. The  gold  and  silver  production  soon  began  to  rival 
the  wealth  of  California.  Before  long  a  group  of  Rocky 
Mountain  States  was  developing  toward  statehood.  These 
two  important  gold  discoveries  had  a  powerful  influence 
upon  the  early  and  rapid  settlement  of  the  Great  West, 
in  the  founding  of  cities  and  in  the  growth  of  two  impor- 
tant groups  of  states  which  are  now  an  influential  part 
of  our  Union  of  States. 

In  later  years  rich  copper  ores  were  found  at  Butte, 
Montana,  and  gold  in  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota.  These 


36  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

discoveries  had  results  similar  to  those  already  described 
in  the  founding  of  cities  and  development  of  states. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  Alaska  at  a  still  more  recent 
date  led  to  a  rush  of  gold  seekers  to  the  frozen  North. 
The  hardships  of  the  Klondike  gold  hunters  were  even  greater 
than  those  of  the  forty-niners.  As  a  result  the  remark- 
able resources  of  Alaska,  not  in  gold  alone,  but  in  forests, 
coal  lands,  and  fisheries,  have  been  made  known  to  the 
world.  Lines  of  ships  with  extensive  commerce  have 
been  established  from  Seattle  and  other  western  cities  to 
Sitka,  Nome,  and  other  ports  in  Alaska. 

A  little  reflection  will  convince  us  that  these  rapid  move- 
ments of  population  westward  at  the  time  of  the  gold 
discoveries  are  only  a  striking  part  of  the  great  westward 
movement  of  the  American  people  which  has  now  been  in 
progress  for  three  hundred  years  since  the  beginnings  of 
Jamestown  and  Plymouth.  Looking  still  further  back, 
the  movements  of  people  which  led  to  the  settlement  of 
the  thirteen  original  colonies  were  from  Europe  —  west- 
ward ho ! 

The  above  unit  of  study,  which  begins  with  the  trip  to 
California  in  '49,  is  a  good  illustration  of  these  large,  central 
projects.  It  exhibits  a  progressive  thought  development 
through  two  main  stages.  First,  the  full  narrative  of  per- 
sonal experience,  which  gives  a  rich  descriptive  background 
for  all  the  later  discussion ;  secondly,  the  steady  growth 
and  expansion  of  the  topic  to  include  the  entire  migration 
to  California  and  the  Pacific  Coast,  then  to  the  Rocky 
Mountain  States,  to  Alaska,  and  at  the  close  a  brief  survey 
of  the  whole  westward  movement.  Around  the  central 
idea  of  westward  advance  is  grouped  and  organized  in  a 
natural  order  a  large  and  important  aggregate  of  historical 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE   PROJECTS  37 

and  geographical  knowledge.  Such  a  study  begins  in 
definite,  interesting,  personal  experiences,  develops  into 
large  state  interests,  and  then  expands  into  national  im- 
portance. It  finally  gives  a  broad  and  significant  survey 
of  our  whole  history,  even  points  back  to  great  European 
migrations  and  becomes  a  world  topic.  Such  a  unit 
of  study  naturally  grows  into  large  proportions.  It 
cannot  be  squeezed  into  the  narrow  limits  of  a  twenty 
minutes  class  period.  Our  big  topics  demand  time  and 
space  and  rich  materials  with  which  to  work  their  full 
influence. 

Teachers  in  order  to  handle  these  big  topics  must  study 
them  thoroughly  and  master  them  completely. 

THE  MUSCLE  SHOALS  PROJECT 

At  the  Muscle  Shoals  on  the  Middle  Tennessee  River, 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  now  at  work  upon 
a  national  project  which  was  held  to  be  of  vital  importance 
to  our  country  in  time  of  war.  At  the  Muscle  Shoals 
is  a  long  series  of  rapids  where  the  whole  volume  of  this 
broad  river  drops  down  140  feet.  Here  is  a  natural  water 
power  which  the  Government  has  decided  to  make  use  of 
by  building  dams  and  an  electric  power  station  to  produce 
nitrates  for  the  manufacture  of  explosives. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed  a  bill  authoriz- 
ing the  president  to  select  the  site  for  this  national  plant 
and  appropriated  twenty  million  dollars  for  the  work, 
later  increased  to  sixty  millions.  This  at  once  brought 
the  Muscle  Shoals  district  into  much  prominence.  Up 
to  this  time  the  Muscle  Shoals  have  been  chiefly  known  to 
the  world  as  an  obstruction  to  steamboating  and  commerce 
on  the  Tennessee  River.  Several  millions  of  dollars  had 


38  TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 

been  spent  in  canals  and  locks  to  overcome  these  difficulties 
in  navigation,  but  without  much  success. 

Among  all  the  important  water  powers  found  along  Ameri- 
can rivers,  why  should  the  Muscle  Shoals  be  chosen  at  a 
tune  of  pressing  national  danger  as  the  one  spot  for  estab- 
lishing the  government's  largest  hydro-electric  power  plant 
for  the  production  of  nitrates  ? 

To  find  an  answer  to  this  question  the  President  and  his 
advisers  had  to  deal  with  a  series  of  important  and  interest- 
ing problems. 

i.  Is  the  power  that  can  be  generated  at  the  Muscle 
Shoals  great  enough  and  can  it  be  kept  up  steadily  through- 
out the  whole  year  so  as  to  meet  the  full  demands  for  such 
a  plant?  There  are  periods  of  flood  in  spring  and  of  low 
water  in  summer,  and  the  amount  of  power  is  quite  variable 
during  the  four  seasons.  Here  was  a  problem  for  expert 
engineers,  who  must  study  the  record  of  the  river  and  its 
tributaries  for  many  previous  years,  to  ascertain  the  facts. 
The  government  would  require  for  the  success  of  such 
a  plant  at  least  120,000  horse  power  continuous  through- 
out the  year.  As  the  result  of  their  studies  and  figuring 
the  engineers  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  river  at  the 
Muscle  Shoals  can  furnish  250,000  steady  horse  power, 
and  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year  up  to  possibly  600,000 
horse  power.  This  makes  it,  next  to  Niagara,  the  largest 
single  water  power  in  the  United  States.  The  Muscle 
Shoals  have  the  advantage  also  of  being  far  enough  to  the 
South  not  to  be  obstructed  with  ice  in  the  winter  time. 
In  order  to  secure  the  largest  steady  supply  of  water  for 
the  Muscle  Shoals,  it  will  be  necessary  also  to  build  reser- 
voirs in  the  upper  tributaries  and  sources  of  the  Tennessee 
River  in  the  mountains.  The  extension  and  development 


EXAMPLES    OF   COMPLETE    PROJECTS  39 

of  forest  reserves  for  holding  back  the  storm  waters  will 
also  help  to  regulate  the  flow  of  waters  in  the  flood 
season. 

2.  But  why  is  it  necessary  to  have  such  a  plant  at  all? 
What  are  the  sources  from  which  we  have  heretofore  ob- 
tained our  nitrates?    Inquiry  into  this  point  brings  out 
the  fact  that  we  have  at  present  in  the  United  States  no 
source  of  supply  for  nitrates  at  all  adequate  for  meeting 
the  urgent  demands  of  war.     Nitrates  have  been  shipped 
into  the  United  States  in  large  quantities  from  Chile,  a 
far  distant  country.    A  hostile  nation  strong  enough  on 
the  sea  to  cut  off  that  supply  could  make  us  helpless  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  war.     In  order  to  be  safe  our  country 
must  have  a  supply  at  home  large  enough  to  meet  all 
demands. 

3.  How  can  the  water  power  at  the  Muscle  Shoals  pro- 
duce these  nitrates  in  sufficient  quantity  to  satisfy  our 
needs  ?    A  study  of  this  question  brings  out  the  fact  that 
we  have  plenty  of  nitrogen  all  about  us  in  the  atmosphere. 
The  main  question  is  how  to  get  hold  of  it  and  put  it  to 
use.     Scientific  experts  have  discovered  a  method  of  doing 
this.     By  means  of  the  electric  current  it  is  possible  to  draw 
nitrogen  from  the  air  and  combine  it  with  other  substances 
to  produce  nitric  acid.     The  nitrates  thus  formed  can  be 
used  in  making  explosives.     Such  is  the  purpose  of  this 
hydro-electric  power  plant  at  the  Muscle  Shoals. 

4.  Another  question  to  be  answered  is,  What  are  the 
raw  materials  that  combine  with  the  nitrogen  of  the  air 
to  form  usable  nitrates?     Are  these  substances  found  in 
the  neighborhood  of   the  Muscle  Shoals?    Limestone  is 
known  to  be  the  chief  of  these  raw  materials  and  limestone 
is  found  at  the  Muscle  Shoals  in  unlimited  quantities. 


40  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

Coking  coal  is  also  needed  and  that  is  obtained  from  the 
Tennessee  Valley  and  at  Birmingham  not  far  distant. 

5.  One  of  the  important  considerations  was  to  find  a 
location  for  this  plant  where  it  would  be  safe  from  attack 
from  all  foreign  enemies.     It  must  be  within  what  is  known 
as  "  the  safety  zone  "  far  from  the  seashore  or  from  boundary 
lines  of  foreign  countries,  even  beyond  the  reach  of  hostile 
airplanes.      The  government  entered  upon  a   survey  of 
our  various  water  powers  from  this  point  of  view.     Of  all 
our  large  water  powers  on  American  rivers  the  Muscle 
Shoals   were   found   to  be  best   located  with  respect  to 
foreign  enemies. 

6.  What  use  could  be  made  of  such  an  expensive  plant 
in  time  of  peace?    A  study  of  this  problem  brings  out  the 
surprising  fact  that  a  nitrate-producing  plant  is  quite  as 
valuable  in  peace  time  as  in  war,  because  these  nitrates, 
when  combined  with  phosphates,  form  the  best  of  all  fer- 
tilizers for  the  enrichment  of  agricultural  lands.    The  mak- 
ing of    the   fertilizers   for   restoring    the   productivity   of 
worn-out  lands  is  one  of  the  most  important  problems  in 
the  United  States   to-day.      In  the  cotton  states  of  the 
South  and  along  the  Tennessee  River  there  are  millions  of 
acres  which  need  these  fertilizers  in  order  to  maintain  the 
productive  power  of  the  soil.      Again,  just  north  of  the 
Muscle  Shoals  in  Tennessee  is  an  extensive  deposit  of  phos- 
phate beds  which  will  supply  this  essential  material. 

It  is  to  be  noted  also  that  a  large  hydro-electric  plant 
like  this  at  the  Muscle  Shoals  supplies  in  time  of  peace  a 
source  of  power  for  commercial  and  manufacturing  purposes. 
This  power  can  be  carried  on  transmission  lines  to  Memphis, 
Birmingham,  Nashville,  and  other  cities  and  towns  within 
a  radius  of  two  hundred  miles,  and  put  to  use  for  running 


EXAMPLES  OF  COMPLETE  PROJECTS  41 

factories  and  street  car  lines,  for  lighting  cities,  and  even 
for  household  uses.  The  agricultural  and  industrial  wealth 
of  a  large  as  yet  undeveloped  region  along  the  Tennessee 
River  will  be  greatly  increased  by  establishing  this  impor- 
tant plant. 

7.  What  will  be  the  effect  of  this  power  plant  upon  the 
navigation    of    the   Tennessee  River?    The  building   of 
three  dams  at  the  Muscle  Shoals,  each  of  which  is  supplied 
with  large  modern  locks  for  passing  boats  and  barges  up 
and  down  stream,  will  have  the  effect  of  completely  remov- 
ing all  obstruction  to  navigation.    The  pools  formed  above 
the  dams  cover  the  shoals  and  make  deep,  safe  water  for 
the  passage  of  boats.    The  Muscle  Shoals  Project,  when 
completed,  will  open  up  the  whole  Tennessee  River  from 
the  Ohio  to  above  Knoxville  to  free  navigation  for  large 
steamers  and  barges.     With  all  obstructions  removed,  an 
extensive  river  commerce  is  likely  to  grow  up  and  cities 
like  Florence,  Decatur,  Chattanooga,  and  Knoxville  will 
have  the  advantage  of  a  cheap  transport  for  heavy  products 
like  coal,  lumber,  iron,  marble,  grain,  and  other  raw  ma- 
terials. 

8.  A  natural  water  power  put  to  service  is  a  substitute 
for  coal.     It  has  been  estimated  that  the  full  use  of  the 
water  power  at  the  Muscle  Shoals  will  save  one  and  one  half 
million  tons  of  coal  in  a  single  year.     This  coal,  at  #3  per 
ton,  would  be  worth  $4, 500,000.     The  development  and  use 
of  a  great  water  power  is  thus  a  means  of  saving  this  amount 
of  fuel.     In  other  words,  this  is  a  plan  for  conserving  the 
coal   supply  of  our  country  for  future  uses.     Engineers 
have  estimated  that  we  have  about  60,000,000  of  unused 
horse  power  along  the  rivers  of  the  United  States.     When 
all  these  natural  forces  are  put  into  use,  supposing  that 


42  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

each  horse  power  is  the  equivalent  of  three  tons  of  coal 
a  year,  it  would  bring  about  an  annual  saving  of  180,- 
000,000  tons  of  coal.  The  labor,  machinery,  and  expense 
of  running  the  coal  mines  could  then  be  largely  spared  and 
turned  into  other  channels  of  production. 

9.  Why  should  the  government  rather  than  some  rich 
private  company  undertake  this  project  as  was  the  case  at 
Keokuk  and  at  Niagara? 

Congress  has  decided  that  the  safety  of  the  nation  is 
dependent  upon  a  full  supply  of  nitrates  to  be  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  explosives.  The  production  of  this  supply 
of  nitrates  should  be  wholly  under  the  control  of  govern- 
ment so  that  the  full  power  of  the  nation  can  be  used 
promptly  in  time  of  war.  For  this  reason  the  Muscle 
Shoals  plant  will  be  built  and  managed  entirely  by  the 
national  government. 

A  proper  study  of  the  Muscle  Shoals  Project,  and  of  the 
many  problems  connected  with  it,  is  merely  a  lively  and 
instructive  introduction  to  a  much  larger  topic,  namely, 
-  the  value  to  our  nation  of  our  unused  water  powers. 
In  this  connection  there  should  be  examined  and  studied  a 
physical  map  of  the  United  States  upon  which  are  located 
all  these  rivers  with  their  valuable  water  powers.  Among 
these  are  the  rivers  of  the  Southern  Alleghenies,  the  Atlan- 
tic seaboard  rivers,  including  those  of  New  England,  and  the 
Mississippi  River  with  its  numerous  tributaries.  The  Rocky 
Mountain  and  Pacific  Coast  streams  will  be  found  to  furnish 
our  largest  resources  for  hydro-electric  plants.  The  future 
wealth  and  power  of  the  United  States,  the  growth  of  its 
cities  and  population  centers,  the  increase  of  its  commerce 
and  manufactures,  and  even  its  agriculture  are  largely 
dependent  upon  this  one  idea,  the  utilizing  of  the  natural 


EXAMPLES   OF   COMPLETE   PROJECTS  43 

but  as  yet  unused  water  powers  of  our  rivers.  The  Muscle 
Shoals  Project  with  its  interesting  problems,  fully  presented 
and  discussed,  opens  to  a  clear  understand,ing  one  of  the 
chief  agencies  for  developing  the  resources  of  the  United 
States.  This  power  plant  in  a  large  way  will  contribute 
to  the  direct  improvement  of  agriculture,  of  mining,  of 
commerce,  and  of  manufacturing.  If  we  keep  the  Muscle 
Shoals  Project  clearly  in  mind  it  will  throw  light  upon  the 
more  general  discussion  of  projects  which  is  to  follow. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    SIGNIFICANCE    OF    PROJECTS    AS    LARGE    UNITS 
OF  STUDY 

THE  emphasis  given  to  projects  in  Chapter  I  is  justified 

because  these  projects  are  big,  commanding  topics  which 

.  deserve  to  hold  an  influential  place  in  our  school 

The  need  of 

large  study-  studies.  In  the  necessary  reorganization  of  our 
curriculum,  the  big  projects,  or  what  we  may 
now  call  large  units  of  study,  are  bound  to  hold  the  chief 
place.  They  are  becoming  more  and  more  the  centers  of 
organization  for  knowledge  materials.  The  thoughts  and 
labors  of  both  teachers  and  children  are  to  be  focalized 
strongly  upon  these  main  centers  of  knowledge.  We 
need,  therefore,  to  get  a  clear  conception  of  these  large 
units  of  study  which  are  coming  into  such  a  commanding 
influence. 

A  big  unit  of  study  brings  together  and  ties  up  in  one 
bundle  a  large  number  of  related  facts  forming  a  well-con- 
structed whole.  Otherwise  these  facts  might  remain 
disconnected  and  meaningless.  In  giving  prominence  to 
central  units  in  instruction,  we  emphasize  the  larger  group- 
ing of  related  facts  or  organization  around  natural  centers 
of  thought.  Again,  this  organization  of  facts  or  of  knowl- 
edge materials  into  a  unit  is  designed  to  give  a  setting  to 
a  single  important  idea  which  in  turn  is  the  principle  of 
organization. 

The  big-unit  conception  applied  to  the  curriculum  as- 

44 


SIGNIFICANCE   OF  PROJECTS  AS  UNITS  OF  STUDY        45 

sumes  that  each  main  study  such  as  history,  science,  litera- 
ture, or  geography  is  built  up  out  of  these  large  wholes  or 
units  of  knowledge  rather  than  out  of  individ- 
ual facts.  The  separate  facts  are  too  small  and  Jjjjj^j  be 
fragmentary  to  serve  as  units  of  construction  in  about  im- 
knowledge  building.  Facts  indeed  we  must  ^^l 
have,  and  in  spelling,  primary  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  that  is,  in  what  are  known  as  formal  studies, 
the  mastery  of  individual  facts  counts  for  much.  But 
we  have  been  totally  misled  in  supposing  that  the  separate 
fact  counts  for  much  in  history,  science,  literature,  geog- 
raphy, or  in  any  rich  content  subject.  The  enlargement 
and  enrichment  of  our  recent  course  of  study  compels  us 
to  abandon  this  itemized,  bookkeeping  style  of  knowledge 
and  to  focus  our  attention  upon  big  projects  as  thought- 
centers  around  which  the  numerous  facts  are  organized. 
The  big-unit  conception  of  knowledge  assumes  that  each 
study  is  framed  up  out  of  large  timbers  or  structural  units. 
Knowledge  is  like  a  big  plantation  which  is  made  up  of 
large  fields,  but  not  of  individual  acre  lots,  or  like  our 
Federal  Government  which  is  combined  out  of  large  politi- 
cal units  called  states  and  not  out  of  an  endless  multitude 
of  small  townships. 

Such  units  of  instruction  are  easily  pointed  out  in  all 
the  important  thought  studies.  The  Declaration  of 
Independence,  for  example,  with  the  facts  and  Examples  of 
consequences  that  properly  group  themselves  Iar8eunits 
around  it,  is  such  a  focal  basis  for  historical  survey.  The 
history  and  development  of  the  steam  engine  is  such  a 
series  of  important  stages  or  problems.  In  this  progress 
it  gathers  into  its  own  sphere  of  influence  a  large  assemblage 
of  historical  events  and  of  scientific  data.  It  is  still  going 


46  TEACHING   OF  PROJECTS 

on  and  will  continue  to  be  an  organizing  center  of  influence 
in  human  affairs.  The  building  of  the  first  Pacific  railway, 
the  discovery  and  exploitation  of  gold  in  California,  Colum- 
bus' first  voyage,  stand  out  as  natural,  conspicuous  begin- 
nings and  centers  in  historical  progress.  In  applied  science 
equally  valuable  centers  appear,  as  the  heart  and  circula- 
tion of  the  blood,  the  invention  of  the  telegraph,  the  life 
history  of  a  butterfly,  soil  fertility  and  its  preservation 
in  agriculture,  Mt.  Shasta  as  a  volcano,  yellow  fever  and 
the  mosquito. 

In  the  nature  of  the  case,  we  are  compelled  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  individual  facts,  but  only  as  they  are  sensibly 
grouped  around  these  important  thought-centers  which 
are  properly  called  teaching  units.  The  recent  expansion 
of  our  curriculum  so  as  to  encompass  an  ever  increasing 
multitude  of  facts  has  forced  us  to  enlarge  our  vision,  to 
take  in  larger  wholes,  to  group  and  organize  facts  into  a 
few  centers  so  as  to  bring  them  under  the  mind's  control, 
in  other  words,  to  simplify  and  unify  knowledge.  As 
knowledge  becomes  more  extensive  we  must  search  for 
fewer  and  stronger  centers  of  organization. 

If  we  are  to  reorganize  our  method  of  classroom  instruc- 
tion on  the  basis  of  these  big  projects  or  knowledge  units, 
omitting  many  minor  topics  and  detached  facts. 

Large  units 

negatively  it  becomes  necessary  to  determine,  as  clearly  as 
possible,  the  character  of  these  big  units.  What 
are  the  earmarks  by  which  we  can  detect  such  a  standard 
unit  of  study?  Let  us  define  a  unit  first  negatively  by 
telling  what  it  is  not.  First :  Such  a  unit  is  not  a  fact. 
A  single  fact  standing  alone  is  meaningless ;  a  host  of  such 
facts  may  be  equally  meaningless.  A  group  of  facts 
properly  organized  and  controlled  by  an  idea  may  be 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  PROJECTS  AS   UNITS   OF   STUDY        47 

of  the  utmost  value.  Facts  are  important  and  necessary 
but  only  when  properly  combined  and  related.  A  lesson 
made  up  of  isolated  facts  or  of  bare  enumerations  or  lists 
of  disconnected  facts  is  too  fragmentary.  A  single  fact 
interpreted  by  its  bearing  on  other  facts  and  in  its  wider 
relations  may  grow  into  an  important  center  of  thought. 
But  mere  single  facts  or  dates  in  history,  the  bare  names  of 
places  on  the  map,  are  not  important  enough  to  be  studied 
and  learned.  Facts  that  do  not  demonstrate  the  influence 
of  organizing  ideas  fail  to  function.  Examinations  based 
on  disconnected  fact  material  are  trivial  in  value,  like 
picking  over  rubbish  heaps.  This  desultory  treatment 
of  scattered  facts  is  a  waste  of  time  and  a  training  in  the  for- 
mation of  bad  habits. 

Secondly :  A  unit  of  study  is  not  a  miscellaneous  collec- 
tion of  even  important  facts.  The  mere  naming  or  list- 
ing of  facts  on  the  assumption  that  they  are  important 
carries  no  meaning  to  a  child.  Some  of  our  textbooks 
are  padded  with  puddingstone  collections  of  presumably 
important  facts.  Rational  reflection  rejects  all  such  mis- 
cellaneous data  as  a  clog  upon  right  thinking.  Every 
important  subject  of  study  should  stand  out  as  a  well- 
ordered  whole,  not  a  shapeless,  accidental  heap  of  facts. 
Thorough  and  repeated  drill  on  such  lists  of  facts  is  an 
inferior  if  not  wasted  form  of  mental  effort. 

Thirdly :  A  unit  of  study  is  not  identical  with  a  lesson 
lasting  twenty  minutes  —  or  forty  minutes.  A  recitation 
period  of  twenty  minutes  is  seldom  just  the  amount  of 
time  required  for  the  treatment  of  a  real  project,  and  yet 
not  uncommonly  teachers  drop  into  a  habit  of  considering 
recitation  periods  as  equivalent  to  lesson  units.  Impor- 
tant units  of  subject  matter  usually  require  from  four  to  a 


48  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

dozen  lesson  periods  for  their  proper  treatment,  often  still 
more.  A  fixed  time  limit,  such  as  the  daily  recitation 
period,  appears  to  be  a  wrong  standard  of  measure  for  the 
large  unit  of  study.  The  entire  process  of  thought  in  a 
complete  unit  of  subject  matter  is  the  determining  factor, 
and  this  is  subject  to  wide  variation,  contingent  on  the 
ability  of  the  class  and  the  nature  of  the  subject. 

Fourthly  :  A  proper  unit  of  study  is  not  a  brief  survey  or 
outline  of  points  for  discussion.  Such  outlines  may  hardly 
serve  as  substitutes  for  knowledge.  Unless  the  outline  is 
accompanied  with  a  parallel,  full  enlargement  of  each  par- 
ticular, it  is  disappointing.  Teachers  and  children  alike 
suffer  in  school  studies  from  a  lack  of  nourishment,  that 
is,  of  abundant  actual  knowledge  arranged  with  reference 
to  leading  points. 

Presenting  these  mere  outlines  before  teachers  and  chil- 
dren is  like  offering  empty  dishes  to  guests  at  a  feast.  It 
is  cheap,  easy  work  to  supply  outlines,  but  to  furnish  a 
well-arranged,  fruitful  collection  of  choice  knowledge  on  a 
valuable  subject  is  a  noble  gift.  It  is  the  result  of  pains- 
taking, thoughtful  effort  and  rich  experience.  In  provid- 
ing these  fruitful,  well-organized  topics  an  opportunity 
is  presented  for  performing  a  great  service  to  teachers  and 
children.  It  is  astounding  how  few  of  our  leading  educa- 
tors have  thought  it  worth  while  to  furnish  teachers  and 
children  a  varied  and  full  diet  of  knowledge.  Theories 
of  teaching  are  likewise  no  substitute  for  full  knowledge, 
for  rich  scholarship.  It  is  easy  also  to  offer  excuses  for 
not  doing  this:  "Let  the  teacher  learn  to  help  himself," 
"Do  not  tell  children  what  they  can  find  out  for  them- 
selves." What  a  makeshift  argument!  In  traveling 
through  a  desert  country  it  is  refreshing  to  come  upon  wells 


SIGNIFICANCE   OF  PROJECTS  AS  UNITS   OF   STUDY        49 

of  water  and  fruitful  gardens  provided  by  those  who  have 
gone  before.  To  supply  poor,  meager  outlines  for  other 
people  to  fill  out  is  a  lazy  man's  job.  It  is  a  common  way 
of  shirking  a  hard  task.  Let  the  leaders  in  education  go 
forward  and  show  by  example  how  to  work  out  rich  and 
fruitful  topics.  A  few  such  big  teaching  units  or  projects 
completely  organized  out  of  interesting,  instructive  thought 
material  suitable  for  children  would  do  much  to  give  us  a 
sound  basis  for  classroom  work. 

Fifthly:  A  unit  of  study  is  not  a  rule,  or  principle,  or 
abstraction.  At  least  this  is  not  a  suitable  form  in  which 
to  present  it  to  children.  In  any  case  the  abstract  form 
should  come  later,  when  it  is  needed,  as  a  natural  outgrowth 
of  the  full  treatment  of  the  subject.  It  is  deceptive  and 
dangerous  even  to  name  by  abstract  titles  big  topics 
such  as  government,  taxation,  industry,  or  physiography, 
because  teachers  are  so  prone  to  fall  back  on  a  mere  ab- 
stract phrase  or  definition  as  an  adequate  form  of  knowl- 
edge and  wholly  to  neglect  the  sound  basis  of  concrete 
teaching,  i.e.  full  descriptive  illustration  and  expansion  of 
the  unit. 

Unless  the  enlarged  descriptive  content  of  a  unit  of  study 
is  worked  out  into  a  definitely  presented,  enriching  body 
of  knowledge,  a  lean  outline  and  shallow  teaching  are  inevi- 
table. The  teacher  imposes  upon  the  children  the  same 
hopeless  burden  of  dull  abstractions  which  has  already 
been  imposed  upon  the  teachers.  But  the  teacher  has  the 
same  excuse,  "Every  child  should  think  this  out  for  him- 
self." What  a  pity  that  the  child  has  no  one  upon  whom 
he  may  roll  the  burden  of  making  bricks  without  straw, 
of  trying  to  think  clearly  without  a  realistic  knowledge 
basis  for  thought ! 


50  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

Turning  to  the  positive  side,  what  are  the  distinctive 
The  positive  marks  of  a  standard  teaching  project  or  unit  of 
side  knowledge? 

First :  It  is  knowledge  stuff  in  which  there  is  a  central 
organizing  idea.  This  generative  idea  is  not  only  the 
The  basal  local  center  but  it  is  the  principle  of  organization 
idea  m  jjie  development  of  the  topic.  Like  the  em- 

bryo in  the  seed  it  predetermines  the  nature  and  process 
of  growth  and  the  final  result.  The  purposive  idea  is  the 
living  energy  that  shapes  the  big  unit  in  its  process  of  growth 
toward  fullness  and  maturity.  The  architect's  idea  shapes 
the  house.  The  idea  of  irrigation  determines  the  process 
by  which  any  big  project  of  irrigation  is  worked  out.  The 
development  of  a  distinct,  unique  character  in  fiction  with 
its  complete  setting  is  a  unit  of  study.  Such  a  controlling 
idea,  as  a  center  around  which  a  big  topic  organizes  itself, 
is  illustrated  in  history,  —  Washington's  campaign  against 
Yorktown,  a  real  project;  the  first  voyage  of  Columbus; 
in  geography,  the  Erie  Canal  —  all  projects. 

A  proper  unit  of  subject  matter  contains  within  itself 
a  complete,  energetic  thought  movement  because  the  or- 
ganizing principle  of  the  topic  is  such  a  progressive,  self-pro- 
pelling, purposive  idea  and  demands  its  own  full  cycle  of 
growth.  Give  this  idea  free  scope  to  demonstrate  its 
organizing  power,  and  a  strong,  complete,  well-rounded 
unit  of  thought  is  the  necessary  result.  Burke's  speech 
on  Conciliation  has  just  such  a  simple  organizing  principle 
of  thought.  The  building  of  the  Panama  Canal  rests 
back  upon  such  a  constructive  idea  or  purpose.  A  rail- 
road system  is  projected  and  constructed  upon  the  specific 
notion  of  the  continuous  transport  of  goods  as  a  means  of 
interchange  between  given  regions.  Ruskin's  King  of  the 


SIGNIFICANCE   OF  PROJECTS   AS   UNITS   OF   STUDY         5 1 

Golden  River  has  a  developing  thread  of  thought  which 
ties  all  its  parts  together  into  a  complete  story.  The 
energetic,  dynamic  quality  of  the  idea,  combined  with  its 
constructive  force  in  grouping  and  uniting  thought  elements, 
is  what  makes  study  a  real  achievement.  Purposeful  ideas 
are  such  dynamic  forces  at  work  in  the  world  building  up 
industries,  shaping  institutions,  organizing  and  directing 
the  business  of  life.  Education  consists  in  propagating 
these  world-building  ideas  in  the  minds  of  children.  Once 
planted  in  the  fertile  soil  of  receptive  minds  these  ideas 
show  their  full  growing  energy,  their  organizing  quality 
and  strength.  Genuine  ideas  are  never  static.  Mere  facts 
may  become  almost  static  memory  products,  but  ideas  keep 
on  growing  and  gathering  new  materials  around  these 
old  centers  of  thought.  This  growing,  dynamic  element  in 
knowledge  is  its  life-giving  quality. 

The  strength  of  these  large  projects  as  vital  ideas  lies 
in  the  fact  that  they  are  present,  growing,  life  organiza- 
tions. Large  mining,  agricultural,  and  manufacturing 
processes,  as  big  organized  agencies  for  carrying  on  these 
operations,  are  the  center  and  essence  of  these  large  teaching 
units.  They  are  objective  demonstrations  on  a  large  scale 
of  local,  national,  and  world  processes  in  the  industries. 
A  big  topic  springs  directly  out  of  life,  is  rooted  in  life,  and, 
when  once  understood,  interprets  life.  One  of  these  big 
subjects  fully  cleared  up  and  demonstrated  explains  a 
long  developing  process  in  the  past  up  to  the  present,  and 
then  clearly  forecasts  and  interprets  the  future,  e.g.  a 
study  of  the  lumber  industry. 

Secondly :  A  developing  unit  of  study  gathers  to  itself 
and  embodies  the  full  content  of  a  rich,  well-organized 
collection  of  knowledge.  It  is  not  a  skeleton  outline,  but 


52  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

is  clothed  with  the  flesh  and  tissues,  as  it  were,  of  a  living 

organism.     It  is  rounded  out  with   the   full  complement 

of   concrete,   illustrative  information.     In    this 

A  center  for 

growth  and  particular  of  adequacy  in  treatment  our  textbook 
1  topics  are  very  scant;  they  are  not  complete 
units  of  study  and  are  not  so  regarded.  They  are  so  lean 
and  unstable  that  they  collapse  like  an  empty  sack  for 
lack  of  content.  The  main  thought  lacks  a  background 
against  which  it  can  reveal  itself  in  its  full  meaning. 

A  good  story  or  poem  gives  this  embodied  thought, 
this  elaborate  setting  to  the  chief  idea.  In  Horatius  at 
the  Bridge  the  spirited  hero  stands  forth  in  the  presence 
of  both  armies,  the  bridge  and  crowded  walls  of  Rome 
on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  ranks  of  the  Tuscan  army 
with  glittering  war  gear  marching  down  from  the  northern 
hills.  The  whole  setting  is  complete  and  cumulative. 
The  Christmas  Carol  of  Dickens  gives  a  highly  wrought 
description  to  exhibit  the  background  and  full  biography 
of  the  growing  Christmas  spirit.  The  schoolmaster  is 
beginning  to  learn  the  one  great  lesson  taught  in  the  works 
of  first-class  writers,  to  which  there  are  no  exceptions 
(from  Homer  to  Kipling),  that  any  idea  worth  presenting 
should  have  a  complete,  adequate,  and  even  artistic  setting, 
else  it  loses  its  force  and  degenerates  into  a  poor,  weak 
thing.  It  seems  a  thousand  pities  that  the  schoolmaster 
is  sometimes  slow  to  learn  this  lesson.  He  holds  with  a 
death  grip  to  his  logical  outlines  and  condensations  and 
abstractions. 

Every  big  unit  of  study  as  a  developing  project  requires 
ample  scholarship,  a  real  life  setting,  a  complete  environ- 
ment for  the  idea.  For  teaching  purposes  we  may  give 
special  emphasis  to  the  objective  or  concrete  character 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  PROJECTS  AS  UNITS  OF  STUDY        53 

of  such  units.  The  idea  may  be  embodied  in  some  person, 
as  the  idea  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  the  person  of  De  Witt 
Clinton,  or  in  a  striking  object  like  the  Brooklyn  Bridge, 
or  in  some  great  natural  landmark,  such  as  Mt.  Shasta, 
or  in  a  natural  agent,  like  a  Rhone  glacier ;  or  it  may  center 
in  an  important  practical  project,  as  the  power  plant  at 
Niagara  or  the  building  of  the  first  Pacific  railway,  or  the 
laying  of  the  first  Atlantic  cable.  Such  topics  are  not 
bookish  and  school-made,  but  practical  and  life-made. 
It  is  through  these  pragmatic  topics  that  the  school  is 
able  to  strip  of!  its  artificialities  and  become  absorbed  into 
the  ongoing  activities  and  interests  of  a  real  world.  A 
big  [strong  unit,  like  a  well-loaded  cannon,  is  one  that  is 
charged  with  a  full  measure  of  knowledge  material. 

Thirdly :  This  developing  unit  of  subject  matter,  or- 
ganized into  a  strong  thought  movement,  an  expanding 
project,  is  just  one  clear,  complete,  and  convinc- 
ing illustration  of  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  simi- 
lar movements.  By  means  of  a  brief  comparison  with 
similar  projects  or  processes  this  one  illustration  becomes 
the  easily  recognizable  type  of  a  whole  class  of  kindred 
phenomena  scattered  up  and  down  the  earth.  Explain 
fully  the  process  by  which  the  Rhone  glacier  is  formed  by 
accumulating  snows  upon  the  mountain  slopes,  and  then, 
by  pressure,  consolidating  and  pushing  its  slow  course 
down  the  winding  valley,  scouring  the  mountain  sides 
and  carrying  the  waste  materials  to  lower  levels  where  the 
ice  melts  away  in  the  warmer  sun,  giving  rise  to  the  rivers, 
and  you  have  described  almost  the  exact  process  by  which 
all  mountain  glaciers  in  all  high  regions  of  the  world  have 
been  doing  their  gigantic  work  for  centuries.  To  under- 
stand thoroughly  the  work  of  one  glacier  is  to  understand 


54  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

and  interpret  all  glaciers.  Describe  one  big  steel  mill 
at  Pittsburgh  as  a  business  undertaking,  with  its  blast 
furnace,  converters,  and  rolling  mill,  giving  the  sources 
of  its  raw  materials,  and  the  use  to  which  its  finished  prod- 
ucts are  put,  and  one  will  easily  master  the  problem  of  steel 
production  wherever  carried  on  in  this  or  in  foreign  lands. 
Study  out  the  machines  and  processes  of  one  cotton  mill 
and  you  will  understand  cotton  manufacture,  though  it 
be  carried  on  in  ten  thousand  factories  the  world  over. 
Likewise  woolen  manufacture  and  other  textile  production 
will  be  easily  understood  on  the  same  basis. 

Wise  people  tell  us  that  if  we  read  and  ponder  well  one 
great  book,  we  shall  understand  the  gist  of  many  books. 
Fortunately  for  us  the  world  is  built  on  this  basis  of  a  few 
simple  types.  Master  thoroughly  a  few  of  these  essential 
and  far-reaching  types  and  the  world  of  knowledge  becomes 
tributary  to  our  thought. 

So  far  reaching  is  this  interpretative  significance  of  the 
type  that  teachers  have  been  misled  into  substituting  for 
it  the  definition,  which  is  the  purely  abstract  form  of  the 
typical  idea.  The  definition  or  general  statement  does 
contain  a  truth  that  might  explain  clearly  a  thousand  or 
a  million  objects  or  phenomena.  But  this  brief  definition 
or  abstract  form  of  truth,  though  it  be  firmly  memorized, 
fails  to  furnish  the  child  with  insight  into  the  basal  mean- 
ing, and  it  fails  still  worse  in  giving  power  to  use  such  a 
truth  so  that  it  can  work  over  into  habit.  Teachers  are 
constantly  falling  into  this  trap,  both  teachers  and  chil- 
dren being  caught  and  held  in  these  abstract  formulae. 
Out  of  such  abstract  definitions  neither  sound  knowledge 
nor  good  habits  can  spring.  The  soil  is  too  thin  and  poor 
to  produce  a  good  crop.  In  any  subject  the  truth  which 


SIGNIFICANCE   OF  PROJECTS   AS  UNITS   OF   STUDY         55 

lies  at  the  bottom  must  be  concretely  enriched  and  nourished 
and  strongly  organized  in  order  to  produce  a  fruitful  crop 
of  genuine  knowledge. 

The  type  or  project  study,  properly  developed  and  en- 
riched, furnishes  a  sound,  concrete  basis  upon  which  to 
build  the  structure  of  knowledge.  In  the  effort  to  secure 
economy  and  efficiency  hi  our  methods  of  instruction  we 
must  keep  in  mind,  first,  the  basal  simplicity  in  knowledge, 
resting  upon  a  few  central  ideas  or  types,  and,  secondly,  the 
deep  fertilizing  elements  of  concrete  experience  that  must 
be  gathered  around  the  roots  and  beginnings  of  every  im- 
portant topic  of  study. 

The  basal  principle  in  each  case  is  plain.  It  stands  out 
in  large,  bold  relief  commanding  wide  influence.  It  has 
the  strength  of  a  giant  for  bringing  together  and  organizing 
scientific,  historical,  or  geographical  material,  and  some- 
times all  of  these  combined,  and  this  whole,  big  unit  becomes 
a  larger  measuring  unit  with  which  to  test  and  judge  other 
similar  values  on  a  broad  and  expanding  scale.  For  knowl- 
edge in  a  big  unit  grows  richer  in  power  and  scope  as  it 
develops.  It  is  this  outstretching  power  of  an  idea  to  lay 
hold  of  extensive  data,  and  to  organize  them  into  a  simple 
perspective,  interpreting  the  world  down  long  avenues, 
which  gives  such  a  study-unit  its  final  complete  value. 

A  big  teaching  unit  fully  mastered  in  its  facts,  meaning, 
and  relations  becomes  a  clear  and  well-defined  standard 
for  measuring  future  units  of  similar  character.  , 

0  .  A  standard 

This  typical,  interpretative  quality  is  quickly  measuring 
discovered  and  set  to  work  in  big  projects  like 
the  Erie  Canal,  the  City  of  Washington,  the  historic  Rhine 
River,  or  the  influence  of  the  Alps  Mountains.     Thought- 
ful measurements  as  to  qualitative  and  quantitative  rela- 


56  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

tions,  as  to  similarities  and  contrasts,  as  to  causes  and 
effects,  result  in  a  still  larger  grouping  and  organization 
of  knowledge.  Such  big  units  keep  on  growing,  expanding, 
and  organizing  thought  materials  through  the  whole 
course  of  study.  Thus  are  steadily  and  strongly  built 
up  the  fundamental  norms  with  which  to  measure  and  esti- 
mate values  not  only  in  school,  but  throughout  later  life. 

Let  such  an  idea  spring  up  from  a  rich,  productive  soil 
of  concrete  knowledge  and  it  will  surely  develop  out  of  its 
small,  local,  concrete  beginnings  and  through  later  compari- 
sons into  a  full  world-meaning.  It  is  only  those  big  ideas 
which  grow  into  this  larger  importance  that  we  care  to  deal 
with.  This  is  a  world-building  process  and  expands 
steadily  to  the  interpretation  of  larger  and  yet  larger 
wholes.  It  does  not  stop  with  the  end  of  the  school. 
Such  school  effort  is  rooted  in  experience  and  develops 
through  life  processes,  and  so  it  goes  right  on.  Such  ideas 
are  the  life  of  nations  through  which  they  maintain  and 
develop  themselves.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
elementary  school  is  dealing  in  a  live  way  with  the  funda- 
mentals of  social  and  industrial  life.  The  study  of  a  wheat 
farm  in  North  Dakota  grows  easily  into  the  great  wheat  belt 
of  the  Northwest  with  Minneapolis  as  its  center,  but  before 
long  it  is  measuring  the  wheat  fields  of  Australia,  of  Argen- 
tina, of  India,  and  of  the  Nile  Valley  and  the  ocean  routes. 

Fourthly :  As  this  central  idea  takes  root  and  develops 

naturally  hi  a  child's  mind,  it  organizes  his  knowledge  into 

a  growing  habit  of  thought.     His  mind  takes  on 

A  growing 

habit  of         an    expanding   knowledge-structure   which   be- 
comes his  own  method  of  thinking.     It  not  only 
organizes  a  child's  knowledge  into  habits,  but  it  reenforces 
these  habits  with  powerful  interests  in  the  further  develop- 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  PROJECTS  AS  UNITS  OF   STUDY         $7 

ment  of  knowledge.  In  this  manner  a  strong,  genetic 
instruction  may  have  a  molding  influence  upon  character 
as  it  develops.  The  succeeding  chapters  of  this  book  will 
bring  into  view,  one  after  another,  the  various  important 
aspects  of  the  Large  Unit  of  Study  as  a  growing  project. 
It  is  the  one  fundamental  concept  in  this  book  which  we 
wish  to  bring  to  a  clear  and  complete  and  explicit  demon- 
stration. 

In  closing  this  chapter  we  may  note  that  we  have  been 
discussing  only  one  of  the  three  important  aspects  of  these 
large  developing  projects  or  units  of  study.  To  show  the 
far-reaching  importance  of  the  large  standard  unit  we  desig- 
nate these  three  points  as  follows : 

1.  The  large  unit  of  study  or  project  is  the  basis  of  our 
plans  in  this  book  for  enriching   classroom   study.     This 
is  especially  true  in  all  the  important  thought  studies  and 
to  a  less  degree  in  formal  studies. 

2.  A  proper  choice  and  serial  arrangement  of  these  im- 
portant study  units  is  the  basis  for  the  organization  of 
the  course  of  study.    The  treatment  of  this  point  will 
require  a  separate  volume. 

3.  In  the  training  of  teachers  we  fall  back  upon  the  large 
standard  unit  of  study  as  the  center  of  operations.     If 
teachers  can  learn  to  organize  knowledge  into  such  units, 
if  they  can  master  such  topics  before  going  into  their  classes, 
and  can  later  carry  out  such  well-planned  instruction  in 
the    classroom,   they   will   rapidly   develop    into   efficient 
teachers.     To  deal  properly  with  this  phase  of  the  large 
unit  as  related  to  teacher- training  will  also  require  a  sepa- 
rate volume. 


58  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  MAIN  FEATURES  IN  A  CENTRAL  UNIT 

OF  STUDY 

1.  It  has  in  it  a  basal  idea,  a  center  for  the  grouping  of 
facts.    Like  a  magnet  it  draws  all  things  to  one  point. 
The  story  of  Peter  Cooper  with  his  one  great  idea  illustrates 
this. 

2.  The  unit  of  study  has  in  it  a  developing  process  of 
thought  which  is  its  principle  of  growth.     In  this  is  a 
dynamic  energy   that  keeps  it  active  and   constructive, 
like  the  design  of  a  building  in  the  mind  of  an  architect. 
The  process  of  smelting  iron  ore  and  of  making  steel  prod- 
ucts at  Pittsburgh  is  an  example. 

3.  Such  a  topic  is  concrete.     Its  idea  is  embodied  in 
some  object,  or  person,  or  process,  like  a  machine  or  manu- 
facturing plant ;  like  some  great  power  plant,  at  Niagara 
Falls ;  or  the  projecting  and  building  of  the  first  steamboat. 

4.  The  purposive  idea  as  it  develops  gathers  to  itself 
an  instructive  and  valuable  body  of  knowledge  which  it 
organizes  into  its  own   structure.     Like  a  growing  tree, 
it  assimilates  into  its  own  tissues  the  materials  it  needs. 
Example,  the  Panama  Canal. 

5.  Such  a  large  unit  of  study  centers  in  some  practical 
project  like  the  building  of  a  railroad  or  the  laying  of  an 
ocean    cable.     It   is   not   bookish   and   school-made,    but 
practical  and  life-made. 

6.  This  life  project,  when  worked  out,  is  found  to  be 
the  key  and  interpretation  to  a  large  number  of  similar 
undertakings.    It  is  a  clear  type  and  demonstration  of  an 
entire  class  of  important  projects,  scattered  up  and  down 
the    whole    earth.     It    is    a    vitalized    rule    or    principle. 
Example,  the  steam  engine,  a  canal  lock. 


SIGNIFICANCE   OF   PROJECTS  AS   UNITS   OF   STUDY         59 

7.  Let  this  idea  grow  and  it  will  develop  out  of  its  small, 
local,    concrete    beginnings   into    a   national  importance. 
It  is  a  world-building  process  and  expands  steadily  to  the 
interpretation  of  larger  and  yet  larger  wholes.     Example, 
A  Wheat  Farm  in  North  Dakota,  The  Trip  to  California 
in  '49,  The  Harbor  of  New  York. 

8.  As  this  central  idea  takes  root  and  develops  naturally 
in  a  child's  mind,  it  organizes  his  knowledge  into  a  growing 
habit  of  thought.     His  mind  takes  on  an  expanding  knowl- 
edge-structure which  becomes  his  own  method  of  think- 
ing and  of  interpreting  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    ENLARGED    OBJECT   LESSON   OR    PROJECT   AND 
ITS  RELATION  TO  THE  LEARNING  PROCESS 

THE  project  well  worked  out  is  simply  a  big  object  lesson 
in  the  process  of  learning  —  a  demonstration  of  the  right 
method  of  collecting,  organizing,  and  mastering 
the  natural  knowledge.  It  might  be  called  an  explanation 
process  in  of  ^e  natural  learning  process.  In  executing 
a  real  project,  a  child  almost  loses  sight  of  the 
fact  that  he  is  gaining  knowledge.  He  is  mainly  absorbed 
in  reaching  results.  As  an  active  voluntary  agent  he  has 
his  eye  fixed  on  the  end  to  be  reached.  Struggling  to 
achieve  this  purpose,  he  finds  himself  in  the  midst  of  a 
world  of  knowledge  waiting  to  be  put  to  use.  The  best 
way  to  acquire  knowledge  is  to  get  after  some  important 
aim  which  compels  us  to  learn  what  is  necessary  as  a  means 
of  reaching  this  aim.  Teachers  have  been  groping  about 
for  a  long  time  trying  to  discover  this  natural  process  in 
learning.  On  this  plan,  enterprising  young  men  with 
little  schooling  have  educated  themselves  very  success- 
fully, —  youths  like  Edison,  Horace  Greeley,  Peter  Cooper, 
and  Benjamin  Franklin.  But  it  requires  an  unusual  degree 
of  originality  and  force  of  character  to  travel  this  road 
alone  and  unguided.  The  teacher  can  do  much  for  aver- 
age boys  and  girls  by  the  suggestion  'of  right  aims  and  by 
occasional  wise  guidance  in  selecting  and  pursuing  their 
projects. 

60 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS     6l 

Young  people  have  an  instinct  reaching  after  the  impor- 
tant things  in  life,  but  they  often  choose  unwisely.  They 
require  guidance  toward  the  better  kinds  of  ex- 
perience and  wisdom.  At  the  basis  of  our  hu- 


man  experiences  are  certain  fundamental  truths  chad  «*• 

perience  to 

which  must  be  understood  and  put  to  use.    It  has  world- 


been  the  business  of  philosophers  and  advanced 
scholars  to  find  out  these  truths,  and  to  organize 
them  into  a  system  of  knowledge  which  we  call  science. 
At  first  glance  there  seems  to  be  a  wide  separation  between 
this  wisdom  of  philosophers  and  thinkers  and  the  child's 
needs,  at  least  as  he  sees  them.  It  is  the  business  of  teach- 
ers to  make  this  connection,  to  direct  boys  and  girls  in  their 
own  efforts  to  discover  and  master  these  world-truths  and 
to  identify  their  own  interests  and  projects  with  them. 
To  bring  about  this  live  connection  between  the  child's 
interests  and  the  world  activities  has  been  the  great  diffi- 
culty and  even  stumbling  block  in  education.  The  proj- 
ects which  we  have  been  discussing  seem  to  furnish  the 
middle  ground  where  the  child,  absorbed  in  his  narrow  per- 
sonal and  social  interests,  can  still  begin  to  take  on  the 
larger  purposes  of  society  and  thus  appropriate  the  accumu- 
lated wisdom  of  this  larger  world.  The  basal  truths  of 
human  life  are  often  best  revealed  to  children  concretely 
in  the  working  out  of  projects.  For  the  project,  developed 
through  its  important  stages  in  a  true  life  setting,  is  a 
first-class  demonstration  of  the  growth  of  an  important 
idea  or  truth.  In  our  educational  theory  this  is  known  as 
the  inductive-deductive  process  of  reaching  important 
concepts  or  general  notions. 

The  growth  of  ideas,  by  which  percepts  develop  into 
concepts,  reveals  the  basis  of  the  learning  process.    Think- 


62  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

ers  and  teachers  have  long  been  interested  in  the  question 

as  to  how  general  notions  are  formed,  whether  they  develop 

f  step  by  step  from  the  observation  and  compari- 

The  basis  of 

the  learning  son  of  examples,  or  whether  there  is  a  shorter  cut 
in  thinking  by  which  concepts  may  be  reached. 
This  matter  touches  the  relation  of  induction  to  deduc- 
tion in  the  thinking  process  and  involves  both  in  a  close 
partnership. 

For  practical  purposes  we  may  describe  two  theories 
regarding  the  learning  process.  First :  Among  teachers 
TWo  and  school  texts  a  long  prevailing  practice  gives 

theories         emphasis  to  general  statements  or  concepts  as  a 
starting  point  in  the  treatment  of  important  topics.     For 
example,   a   recent   primary   geography   describes   climate 
thus:  "The  word  climate  means  the  usual  state 

The  first  be- 
gins with  of  the  air,  whether  hot  or  cold,  dry  or  rainy, 
generalities  wmcjv  or  cami/'  A  book  in  English  composition 
begins  with  this  sentence:  "Composition,  from  the  word 
con,  meaning  together,  and  ponere,  to  place,  signifies  a 
grouping  or  arrangement  of  materials,  generally  with  a 
definite  end  in  view."  A  textbook  in  physical  geography 
begins  a  chapter  on  glaciers  with  the  sentence,  "A  glacier 
is  an  accumulation  of  snow,  for  the  most  part  solidified  into 
ice,  which  is  engaged  in  a  slow  movement  from  one  place 
to  another."  Such  definitions,  at  the  beginning  of  a  sub- 
ject, are  not  uncommon,  but  still  more  common  are  general 
comprehensive  statements  covering  important  topics  in  a 
condensed,  summary  fashion.  A  primary  geography  has 
this  statement,  "Iron,  copper,  gold,  silver,  lead,  and  zinc 
are  metals.  They  come  from  rocks.  The  rocks  having 
metals  in  them  are  called  ores.  We  find  iron  ore,  copper 
ore,  and  lead  ore.  Gold  is  often  found  pure  in  nature." 


LARGER   LESSON   PLAN   BASED   ON  PROJECTS  63 

Such  brief,  general  statements  make  up  a  large  share  of 
the  content  of  our  elementary  textbooks,  especially  for 
the  beginning  middle  grades.  Such  an  introductory  state- 
ment on  the  first  approach  to  any  important  topic  is 
general  and  schematic,  not  definite  and  particular. 
In  the  introduction  to  history  lessons,  for  example, 
topics  dealing  with  the  Puritans,  with  taxation,  with 
state  sovereignty,  and  with  the  constitution  are  mentioned 
briefly  in  general  terms  with  little  explanation,  but  with 
the  expectation  that  these  same  topics  will  be  dealt  with 
more  explicitly  and  fully  in  the  later  grades  and  in  larger 
books.  In  the  early  study  of  such  subjects  children  are 
not  expected  to  comprehend  fully  and  clearly  what  they 
learn.  They  memorize  many  statements  not  plainly  under- 
stood in  the  hope  that  the  future,  out  of  its  richer  reserves, 
will  make  good  this  thought  deficiency.  Learning  is  a 
process  of  slow  and  gradual  clearing  up  of  concepts,  begin- 
ning with  statements  vague  and  presumptive  and  gradually 
enlarging  upon  these  at  some  later  period  with  fuller  re- 
sources of  knowledge.  It  is  the  prevailing  notion  of 
putting  off  to  a  later  time  the  day  of  clear  and  definite 
knowledge.  It  is  the  idea  of  a  long  twilight  zone  A  twilight 
during  the  early  approaches  to  knowledge.  This  zone 
emphasis  of  conceptual  or  abstract  knowledge  in  the 
early  stages  of  learning  is  a  favorite  notion  among 
adults  and  especially  among  teachers  and  textbook  writers 
in  their  attitude  toward  children.  It  has  also  in  its 
favor  a  long  tradition  of  method  and  practice  in  the 
schools. 

The  second  theory  touching  the  process  of  learning  is 
the  opposite  of  the  foregoing.  Knowledge  should  start 
with  the  concrete,  the  sensuous,  the  vivid.  The  first  im- 


64  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

pressions  on  any  subject  should  be  registered  in  a  child's 
mind  in  clear  and  vivid  pictures,  in  a  strong  and  intensive 

grasp  of  particular  objects  or  situations,  in  ideas 
nings  in  the  keenly  felt  and  objectively  demonstrated.  While 

a  quick,  general  survey  of  a  situation  may  be 
allowed  at  the  start,  the  emphasis  falls  upon  the  immedi- 
ately following  enlarged  and  descriptive  treatment  of  the 
topic,  upon  a  full  life  picture  such  as  an  artist  would 
produce. 

In  support  of  the  second  view,  it  is  claimed  that  chil- 
dren at  this  early  stage  are  not  prepared  for  broad,  general 

surveys  of  large  domains  in  knowledge,  that  is, 
lines  not  f°r  a  mere  framework  to  be  held  in  memory 
Sh1idrenf0r  unt^  a  fun<er  knowledge  at  some  future  time  can 

be  fitted  into  it.  Children  should  fill  in  the  frame 
at  once  with  concrete  picturing.  They  require  forthwith  an 
objective,  intensive,  and  experimental  acquaintance  with  the 
subject.  The  school  should  see  to  it  that  the  early  ideas 
gained  by  children  are  clear  rather  than  vague,  specific 
rather  than  general,  intensive  rather  than  neutral,  keen 
and  vital  rather  than  pale  and  shadowy.  The  first  time 
a  good  topic  is  touched  upon  in  early  years,  it  should  strike 
a  vital  point  and  ring  out  in  the  child's  mind  with  a  clear 
and  sharp  meaning.  Children  ,have  no  time  to  waste  on 
vague  and  empty  phrases.  In  geography  the  description 
of  a  cotton  plantation  should  not  be  condensed  into  a  bare 
sentence  but  should  expand  into  a  vivid  and  realistic  pic- 
ture of  plantation  life.  Just  as  a  choice  fairy  tale  or  myth 
centers  in  a  live  character  (Cinderella  or  Siegfried)  who 
engages  in  strong  or  startling  actions,  so  a  history  story 
should  cleave  to  the  exploits  of  a  notable  person,  as  John 
Paul  Jones,  or  Robert  Fulton,  or  William  Penn. 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS      65 

The  main  argument  for  dipping  down  deep  into  concrete 
reality  in  a  new  subject,  at  its  first  appearance,  may  be 
stated  as  follows :  It  produces  a  keen,  sharp  , 

Sharp    tools 

mental  reaction  and  leaves  a  deep  and  permanent  instead  of 
impression.  Future  progress,  also,  in  knowledge 
depends  chiefly  upon  this  quality  of  concreteness  and  vital 
force.  Knowledge  which  lacks  this  sharp  sensory  element 
is  vague  and  dubious,  and  has  little  power  for  the  assimila- 
tion of  new  subjects.  Children  demand  a  kind  of  knowledge 
that  will  function  as  a  prompt,  interpretative  factor  in 
the  close-following  studies.  Dull  and  vague  concepts 
have  little  power  to  interpret  later  subjects.  Dry  and 
stupid  memory  processes  do  not  make  children  keen  and 
aggressive  in  interpreting  new  situations,  but  the  contrary. 
Nobody  can  work  to  advantage  with  dull  tools,  and  these 
vague  general  notions  are  the  dullest  of  all  dull  tools.  If 
the  early  ideas  children  get  are  obscure  and  foggy,  they 
are  discouraging  and  unsatisfying  in  themselves  and  they 
serve  no  useful  purpose  in  explaining  new  problems.  It 
is  just  as  well  that  they  are  easily  forgotten.  At  the  very 
start,  therefore,  children  should  get  a  keen  sensory  experi- 
ence and  build  up  strong,  apperceptive  thought-centers, 
which  become  active  power  stations  generating  an  onward 
movement  into  knowledge.  Vivid  object  lessons  should 
be  the  gateway  to  every  new  subject. 

Which  of  these  theories  should  take  the  lead  in  instruc- 
tion?    The  first,  the  idea  that  children  at  first  grasp  the 
chief  concepts  vaguely,  in  broad  general  terms,  A  choice 
and  that  these  concepts  are  only  gradually  cleared  °ffered 
up  and  strengthened,  or  the  second,  the  opposite  principle 
that  a  clearly  intelligible  basis  for  an  idea  grounded  upon 
objective  reality  is  demanded  at  the  first,  and  a  full  under- 


66  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

standing  within  these  narrow  limits  secured?  The  first 
theory  has  had  a  long  and  powerful  influence  in  shaping 
courses  of  study  and  in  guiding  methods  of  teaching,  and 
an  immense  amount  of  actual  instruction  has  developed 
upon  this  basis.  The  question  that  now  arises  is  this,  — • 
Is  it  economical  and  efficient? 

If  we  should  take  time  for  an  historical  survey  of  prin- 
ciples and  methods  in  teaching,  we  should  be  convinced 
Historical  that  the  first  crude  impulse  of  educators  in  nearly 
survey  a^  cases  nas  been  to  begin  instruction  with  im- 
portant general  notions  or  concepts.  At  the  present  time, 
also,  our  textbooks  show  a  preponderating  tendency  of  the 
same  sort  —  general  notions  first,  and  a  gradual  clearing 
up  of  these  general  notions  through  later  instruction.  The 
history  of  schools  and  of  methods  in  the  past 

Religion  .  ...  -A    ,. 

gives  us  plenty  of  evidence  on  this  point.  Reli- 
gious education,  the  first  to  be  taken  up  seriously,  was 
based  on  the  catechism,  a  brief  summary  of  the  most 
important  religious  doctrines.  There  is  now,  however, 
a  strong  tendency  among  progressive  religious  teachers 
to  introduce  for  early  religious  instruction  the  stories  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  to  emphasize  the  historical  books  in 
preference  to  the  doctrinal,  at  least  in  all  early  teaching,  and 
also  to  make  use  of  the  biographies  of  religious  leaders,  mis- 
sionaries, and  benefactors  of  recent  times  as  examples.  The 
catechism,  if  used  at  all,  would  then  come  at  the  end  as  the 
culmination  of  this  plan  of  progressive  religious  education. 
In  other  words,  there  has  grown  up  in  recent  times  a  strong 
tendency  to  reverse  the  old  order  of  religious  instruction,  and 
to  introduce  such  teaching  with  stories  and  biographies,  with 
striking  impersonations  of  ideas,  and  to  bring  in  much  later 
the  abstract  and  doctrinal  statements  of  religious  truth. 


LARGER   LESSON  PLAN  BASED   ON   PROJECTS  67 

The  study  of  literature  in  schools  and  colleges  was  for- 
merly, and  is  still  in  some  cases,  a  general  description  of  the 
character  and  works  of  great  writers,  but  not  an 

_       Literature 

early  study  of  the  masterpieces  themselves.  In 
recent  years  we  have  almost  abandoned  these  generalities, 
these  broad  character  sketches,  and  we  have  allowed 
the  children  to  read  and  enjoy,  from  the  first,  Fairy 
Tales,  Robinson  Crusoe,  the  Arabian  Nights,  the  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  the  Wonder  Book,  the  Greek  Heroes,  Scott's 
Tales  of  a  Grandfather,  the  King  of  the  Golden  River, 
the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  and  a  host  of  other  stories  and 
poems  which  are  the  living  concrete  expressions  of  good 
literature,  as  furnished  directly  by  the  masters  themselves. 
We  have  said  good-by  to  those  summaries,  once  the  staple 
of  school  courses,  those  inane  introductions  to  good  litera- 
ture. 

A  generation  ago  technical  grammar,  the  rules  and  prin- 
ciples of  the  English  language,  was  commonly  taught  in 
the  fourth  and  fifth  grades  (e.g.  the  eight  parts 

i  \     i  i  .1  i  Grammar 

of  speech),  but  now  we  try  to  arouse  children  to 

a  keen  and  practical  interest  in  stories,  in  excursions,  and 

in  lively  topics  in  nature  study  for  composition.     We  are 

pushing  formal  grammar  far  ahead  or  even  into  the  high 

school. 

Thirty  years  ago  it  was  customary  in  some  of  the  best 
schools  to  teach  the  principal  concepts  of  mathematical 
geography  in  the  fourth  grade.  Latitude,  longi- 

...  Geography 

tude,  and  earth  motions,  —  these  general  no- 
tions were  regarded  as    an  introduction   to   later    topics 
in   advanced   geography.      Such   topics,    as   general  con- 
cepts,   are   now    left    over    to    the    grammar    and    high 
schools.     The  primary  geographies  of   that  period   dealt 


68  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

with  the  broad,  comprehensive  phases  of  physical  and 
climatic  geography,  of  commerce,  agriculture,  and  other 
large  general  topics.  Since  then  a  quite  notable  change 
has  taken  place  in  primary  geographies  in  favor  of 
a  simpler,  more  concrete  treatment  of  home  topics. 
Home  geography  in  its  outdoor  phases,  —  excursions  and 
constructions,  —  is  now  strongly  emphasized.  The  old 
order  has  been  reversed. 

The  first  books  in  United  States  history  some  years 

ago  gave  a  condensed  outline  treatment  of  the  leading 

periods  and  topics  of  the  whole  course  of  Amer- 

Hi  story 

lean  development.  An  examination  of  our  recent 
texts  in  history  will  show  that  some  books  have  abandoned 
these  historical  generalities  and  have  gone  over  almost 
entirely  to  a  lively  treatment  of  the  heroes  of  biography : 
Columbus,  John  Smith,  Daniel  Boone,  Champlain,  Wash- 
ington, and  Fulton,  that  is,  the  personal,  concrete  phases 
of  history.  Even  in  grammar  grades  biography  begins  to 
play  a  very  important  part,  as  seen  in  the  treatment  given 
the  lives  of  Samuel  Adams,  Franklin,  Patrick  Henry,  Hamil- 
ton, Fulton,  Webster,  Henry  Clay,  or  Lincoln.  Our  Amer- 
ican history  is  now  being  rewritten  in  the  interest  of  con- 
crete, illustrative  biography  and  narrative  for  the  early 
years,  and  the  schematic  outlines  for  primary  books  are 
being  tossed  into  the  waste  heap. 

Even  studies  in  botany  and  zoology  have  abandoned  the 
old  definitions  and  general  descriptions  of  classes,  and  are 

dealing  with  outdoor  excursions  in  fields  and 

Science 

woods,  with  the  descriptive  life  story  of  particular 
plants  and  animals,  and  are  devoted  to  school  gardening 
in  their  practical  home  uses  and  needs.  Theoretical  ab- 
stractions are  at  a  discount  in  teaching  children. 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS      69 

Even  in  the  early  days  of  manual  training,  teachers  and 
children  in  shops  were  dealing  with  the  general  principles 
of  construction  as  worked  out  in  typical  joints 

Manual  arts 

and  modes  of  putting  materials  together,  giving 
emphasis  to  the  main  phases  of  technique.  Now  boys  and 
girls  are  working  in  shops  to  produce  useful,  practical  objects, 
as  tables  and  stools,  bookshelves  and  houses,  while  girls  in 
domestic  arts  make  dresses  and  prepare  meals.  Children 
in  the  grades  now  begin  with  practical,  everyday,  useful 
problems  and  projects,  not  with  principles  of  technical 
construction,  not  with  mere  technique  and  tool  practice. 

In  these  various  ways  progressive  teachers  have  been 
demonstrating  the  importance  of  objective,  practical 
beginnings  in  all  subjects  and  the  unwisdom  of  imposing 
broad  surveys  and  generalities  upon  children  in  their  early 
studies. 

This  later  tendency  toward  the  early  emphasis  of  objec- 
tive, concrete  modes  of  instruction  is  in  harmony  with 
generally  accepted  principles  of  teaching  as  now 
presented  in  our  schools  and  colleges.    All  of  our  method  is 


pedagogical  books  and  theories  place  a  marked  groped  in 

good  theory? 

emphasis  upon  the  sensory  basis  of  knowledge 
in  early  years,  upon  object  lessons  and  sensory  training, 
upon  variety  and  richness  in  motor  experience,  upon  ex- 
cursions, shop  activities,  games,  and  outdoor  sports.  The 
conviction  is  very  strong  among  teachers  and  thinkers 
that  the  experimental  basis  of  knowledge  should  be  keen 
and  strong  and  definite.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  get  certain 
principles  generally  accepted  in  theory,  and  quite  another 
to  put  them  into  common  practice.  Barring  exceptions, 
our  textbooks  and  our  school  practice  give  the  lie  to  our 
theories. 


70  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

In  the  first  three  grades  of  the  primary  school  the  prin- 

ciples of  concrete,  objective  teaching  are  pretty  generally 

adopted  and  worked  over  into  effective  practice. 

Primary        \ye  have  many  excellent  primary  teachers  who 

schools  .      . 

good  in         have  mastered  both  the  principles  and  the  art 


°f  primary  instruction,  and  their  work  is  up  to  a 
good  standard  ;   not  so  in  the  intermediate  and 

grammar  grades.     We  are  in  specific  need  of  good  demon- 

strations of  concrete  teaching  in  middle  and  upper  grades. 

Our  theories  are  good  enough,  but  our  textbooks  and  usual 

practice  do  not  correspond  to  these  theories. 

In  the  fourth  grade  for  the  first  time  we  begin  to  use 

textbooks  in  the  important  knowledge  subjects,  and  this 
brings  us  into  trouble,  into  serious  and  permanent 

Textbooks 

for  inter-  trouble.  In  the  middle  grades  our  primary  text- 
^ades^are  DO°k:s  slight  the  sensory  basis  of  knowledge. 
condensed  They  begin  to  condense  and  dogmatize  and  to 
impose  the  matured  conclusions  of  adults  upon 
young  children.  A  famous  teacher  once  replied  to  a  stu- 
dent who  was  objecting  to  fresh,  lively  material  not  found 
in  the  textbook,  saying  :  "Did  you  know  that  when  knowl- 
edge is  dead  we  put-  it  into  textbooks?"  What  an  appall- 
ing proposition  this  is,  if  it  is  true  !  An  attempt  is  made 
in  some  introductory  books  to  remedy  this  fault  by  the  use 
of  pictures,  sometimes  in  excessive  quantity.  Such  pic- 
tures, while  excellent,  are  inadequate  to  supply  that  fuller 
background  of  knowledge  needed  in  an  important  topic. 
The  increasing  prevalence  of  supplementary  readers  in 
history,  geography,  and  science  is  another  strong  proof  of 
the  general  conviction  that  the  textbooks  are  lacking  in 
the  richer,  concrete  elements  of  knowledge.  The  pictures 
and  supplementary  readers  are  a  help  and  palliative  of 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS      71 

temporary  character,  but  they  do  not  change  the  original 
textbook  plan  of  abstract  teaching  for  the  course  as  a 
whole.  The  textbooks  still  remain  largely  condensed  and 
abstract  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  time,  even  if  the  illustra- 
tive materials  were  at  hand,  to  enlarge  and  explain  so  many 
abbreviated  statements.  The  texts  give  a  summary  treat- 
ment to  numerous  phases  of  geography,  history,  and  science. 

In  spite  of  the  improvements  mentioned  above,  it  is 
not  expected  that  children  will  get  a  full  and  clear  under- 
standing of  any  topic  on  its  first  presentation,  but  a  second 
or  third  larger  and  fuller  treatment  of  the  same  topic  will 
follow  after  two  or  three  years.  In  this  manner  these 
first  vague  concepts  are  expected  to  develop  into  greater 
clearness.  Beginning  instruction  still  takes  on  a  general 
schematic  character,  not  tangible  and  objective.  The 
illustrative  method  so  characteristic  of  primary  grades  is 
reversed  in  the  middle  grades  and  a  dogmatic,  generalized 
instruction  takes  its  place.  A  closer  examination  of  the 
books  and  methods  in  common  use  in  intermediate  grades 
will  bring  to  light  this  formal  conceptual  quality.  It  is 
a  mark  of  the  common  tendency  of  the  adult  mind  to  im- 
pose its  general  conclusions  upon  children. 

It  is  exactly  at  this  intermediate  stage  of  the  school 
course  that  we  need  to  return  to  a  positive  emphasis  of 
concrete  modes  of  teaching.     This  principle  of 
concrete  illustrative  instruction,  as  noted  before.  A  ret.urn  to 

graphic 

has  been  successfully  worked  out  and  applied  to  methods  in 


the  three  primary  grades.     In  the  fourth,  fifth, 
and  sixth  grades  teachers  generally  have  not 
employed  illustrative  methods  with  so  large  a  degree  of 
success.     They  have  usually  held  more   steadily   to   the 
books  and  to  the  usual  routine  of  general  statements  to 


72  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

be  memorized  and  recited.  Illustrative  methods  in  the 
middle  grades  have  not  yet  developed  into  a  strong  and 
consistent  plan  of  teaching. 

The  middle  grades  open  up  a  new  world.  In  about  the 
fourth  grade  we  are  entering  for  the  first  time  upon 
important  avenues  of  thought  in  history,  in  geography, 
in  language  and  literature,  and  in  science,  which  are 
destined  to  go  on  expanding  to  larger  proportions 
through  the  grammar  grades  and  much  beyond.  It  is  a 
matter  of  real  concern  how  we  make  these  beginnings. 
A  child's  first  acquaintance  with  an  important  idea  should 
be  lively  and  realistic,  not  dull  and  formal.  It  should 
appear  in  a  life  setting  with  all  the  reinforcements  of  a 
concrete  environment.  This  statement  requires  no  argu- 
ment, for  thinkers  on  education  are  agreed  as  to  the  prin- 
ciple. The  sensory  basis  of  knowledge  and  the  necessity 
for  objective,  tangible  illustration  as  the  introductory 
stage  in  all  learning  are  acknowledged.  Big,  outstanding 
object  lessons  or  projects,  on  a  larger  scale  than  heretofore, 
are  required.  By  this  is  meant  not  a  simple  object  as  in 
primary  grades,  like  a  rock  or  tree,  a  yardstick  or  bushel 
measure,  a  house,  or  a  picture,  but  a  larger  complex  group- 
ing of  objects  or  persons  or  both  into  a  life  situation,  as  a 
sawmill  at  work,  a  house  observed  in  its  process  of  con- 
struction, the  description  of  an  exploit  like  that  of  William 
Tell  in  the  apple  shooting,  the  account  of  a  journey  across 
the  mountains,  as  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  the  building  and 
launching  of  a  ship.  It  is  these  large  panoramic  or  bird's-eye 
views  of  life  situations  that  should  stand  out  as  conspicuous 
Panoramic  centers  of  thought  in  these  grades.  Such  corn- 
views  pjex  panoramic  views  are  built  up  and  put  to- 
gether by  a  continued  effort  of  constructive  imagination 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS      73 

based  on  description  or  narrative,  with  a  free  use  of  pictures, 
diagrams,  maps,  sketches,  constructions,  and  other  devices  for 
objective  illustration.  At  this  juncture  we  may  well  exhaust 
all  our  resources  in  the  effort  to  bring  together  and  allow 
the  children  to  collect  descriptive  and  illustrative  materials 
of  the  choicest  kind  and  to  combine  them  with  artistic 
skill  into  a  complete  and  well-ordered  setting  for  a  single 
commanding  idea. 

Having  mastered  the  formal  elements  of  reading,  writ- 
ing, spelling,  and  language  in  the  primary  grades,  the  chil- 
dren are  now  prepared  to  make  a  plunge  into 

Big  projects 

knowledge,  —  that  is,  into  this  big,  real,  active 
world,  a  world  of  significant  facts,  a  world  of  growing, 
strengthening,  purposeful  ideas,  a  world  where  important 
forces  are  at  work  organizing  facts  into  big,  purposeful 
groupings  or  projects.  These  big  projects  we  call  by  such 
titles  as  the  following :  a  voyage  of  exploration,  the  found- 
ing and  building  of  a  city,  the  survey  and  construction  of 
a  railroad  or  canal,  the  discovery  and  use  of  a  great  inven- 
tion, the  printing  of  a  metropolitan  newspaper,  the  smelting 
and  reduction  of  iron  ores  in  blast  furnaces  and  converters, 
the  demonstration  of  mining  projects  and  of  large  enterprises 
in  agriculture ;  in  science,  huge  physical  phenomena  as  a 
cyclonic  storm,  the  building  up  of  a  volcano  by  successive 
eruptions,  or  an  ocean  current  at  its  work. 

In  entering  upon  these  larger  thought-projects  we  can- 
not afford  to  blunt  the  keen  edge  of  curious  knowledge 
and  blur  these  important  ideas  upon  their  first  A  false 
appearance  by  substituting  vague  abstractions.  PrinciPle 
On  the  contrary  we  may  use  our  utmost  diligence  to  see 
that  they  at  once  awaken  a  keen  intelligence  and  strike 
deep  into  a  child's  life  and  interest.     The  common  practice 


74  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

of  introducing  children  of  the  middle  grades  into  the  gen- 
eralized, abstract  forms  of  knowledge  is  the  admission  of  a 
false  principle  of  teaching  which  tends  strongly  to  leave 
a  long  trail  of  confusion  and  even  of  disaster  through  the 
succeeding  years  of  school  life.  The  problem  now  is  to 
bring  our  course  of  study  and  our  practical  teaching  into 
conformity  with  well-understood  principles. 

When  children  in  the  middle  grades  meet  with  these  proj- 
ects, these  big,  practical  groupings  of  life  activities,  they 
The  en-  have  a  new  and  larger  kind  of  object  lesson 
ject  lesson  with  which  to  deal.  The  old  conceptions  of  sen- 
sory training  in  primary  grades,  of  object  lessons,  are 
wholly  inadequate.  The  children  are  now  to  engage  in 
making  larger  assemblages  of  facts  and  in  grouping  them 
into  stable,  objective  units  of  thought.  These  big  units  are 
to  be  something  new  and  distinctive  in  the  child's  progress. 
Both  he  and  his  teacher  will  have  to  gather  up  their  forces 
for  a  new  and  stronger  kind  of  effort  in  mental,  constructive 
picturing,  namely,  the  descriptive  concreting  of  these  big 
units  to  the  child's  thought.  This  is  why  we  talk  about 
larger  units  of  study  in  intermediate  grades.  By  this 
we  mean  not  some  broad  concept  which  is  abstract  and 
formidable  to  the  child's  mind.  Indeed  we  mean  just  the 
opposite  of  this  —  namely,  something  tangible  and  objec- 
tive, something  on  a  simple,  big,  corporeal  scale,  a  group- 
ing and  organization  of  facts  and  forces  into  an  outstand- 
ing, objective  whole.  These  larger  commanding  thought 
structures  at  which  we  aim  in  the  middle  grades,  we  call 
larger  object  lessons  or  main  projects  as  tangible  units  of 
study.  The  life  of  Columbus,  for  example,  centered  around 
his  one  great  shaping  idea  and  organized  into  a  developing 
unit  of  effort,  illustrates  such  a  knowledge  whole.  It 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS      75 

projects  itself  also  into  the  future,  for  his  idea  keeps  on 
developing  in  the  lives  and  exploits  of  other  men,  like 
Da  Gama,  Magellan,  and  later  navigators.  These  projects 
grow  still  larger  as  we  advance  into  the  grammar  grades. 
The  planning  and  building  of  the  Panama  Canal  is  illus- 
trative; the  Salt  River  Project  in  irrigation,  the  growing 
harbor  in  New  York  City  with  its  shipping,  docks,  and  busy 
activities  are  further  examples. 

The  teachers  in  the  intermediate  schools  should  be  led 
into  a  new  art  of  constructing  and  using  these  big  units 
of  study.  It  is  not  strange  that  our  teachers  in  middle 
and  grammar  grades  have  not  yet  gained  much  skill  in 
this  fresh  art  of  concreting  and  building  up  the  larger 
object  lessons.  It  requires  an  unusual  abundance  of  fruit- 
ful, realistic  knowledge  and  the  art  of  putting  together 
and  building  up  these  source  materials  into  connected  and 
well-compacted  wholes.  They  have  nowhere  had  much 
practice  in  this  kind  of  study  and  organization.  Besides, 
our  leaders  in  educational  thought  have  not  yet  taken  the 
time  and  trouble  to  show  us  how  to  do  this.  They  have 
been  busy  with  other  things  and  the  task  is  not  an  easy  one. 
This  opens  up  at  least  a  new  and  very  important  field  of 
practical  educational  effort. 

One  reason  for  building  up  around  these  projects  as  cen- 
ters such  an  elaborate  and  stable  thought  structure  is  that 
as  big,  tangible  units  of  knowledge  they  are  the  appropriate 
and  necessary  beginnings  of  important  tho.ught  movements 
to  be  continued  through  several  years.  They  set  in  motion 
strong  thought  forces  that  are  to  go  on  growing  and  or- 
ganizing the  best  knowledge  materials  in  these  grades  as 
a  necessary  prelude  for  those  which  follow.  We  desire  to 
get  started  right  in  our  knowledge  program  at  this  critical 


76  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

point.  We  wish  to  lay  strong  foundations  upon  which 
all  the  later  structure  of  knowledge  can  rest.  For  this  is  a 
very  decisive  and  critical  point  in  the  course  of  study.  If 
we  start  with  the  wrong  kind  of  topics  and  a  wrong  method 
in  the  third  and  fourth  grades,  it  will  have  a  depressing  and 
almost  fatal  influence  for  several  years  if  not  for  life. 

Teachers  in  the  intermediate  grades  have  a  chance  to 
perform  a  unique  service  for  the  whole  plan  and  process  of 
education  by  making  the  appropriate  transition 
from  the  simple  illustrative  objects  and  devices 


the  middle  of  tne  prmiary  grades  to  the  larger  constructive, 
objective  interpretations  revealed  in  these  big, 
tangible  projects  and  enterprises  of  intermediate  grades. 
These  large  topics  are  the  gateways  through  which  the 
children  may  freely  enter  into  the  domain  of  world  knowl- 
edge. Let  them  be  beautiful  and  artistic  in  structure,  at 
least  not  forbidding  and  discouraging.  At  this  critical 
point,  where  children's  minds  should  expand  to  take  in 
large,  tangible  problems  and  dominant  interests  of  the  right 
sort,  we  may  spoil  the  whole  prospect  for  years  to  come  by 
introducing  vague,  smooth-phrased  concepts  or  deceptive 
general  notions,  and  by  imposing  upon  children  a  long  series 
of  dry,  trite  generalities.  Unfortunately  this  is  what  we 
are  really  doing.  Examine  the  textbooks  and  then  go 
into  the  schools  and  see. 

One  important  argument  for  big  units  of  study  in  the 
middle  grades  is  the  advantage  of  massing  effective  knowl- 
edge at  the  strategic  points,  of  concentrating  the  illustra- 
tive resources  strongly  and  overwhelmingly  at  a  few  big 
centers  of  thought,  so  as  to  break  through,  as  it  were,  into 
those  big  thought  movements  which  shape  and  organize 
the  course  of  study.  If  we  can  strike  these  spots  hard 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS      77 

enough,  we  may  gain  an  initial  impulse,  a  headway  in  our 
thinking  and  organizing,  that  will  carry  us  forward  into 
the  mastery  of  the  controlling  concepts  of  a  world-build- 
ing knowledge.  This  will  enable  us  to  master  thoroughly 
a  few  main  lines  of  thought.  By  this  we  mean  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  big  projects  and  enterprises  and  institu- 
tions through  which  the  important  activities  in  the  world 
are  being  carried  on  in  history,  in  science,  and  in  geography. 

We  wish  to  make  these  big  object  lessons  of  fourth  and 
fifth  grade  more  active  and  powerful  in  the  interpretation 
of  extensive  knowledge  reserves  which  the  future  has  in 
store.  The  knowledge  that  children  are  accumulating 
from  day  to  day,  if  properly  organized  and  clarified,  can 
be  turned  into  apperceptive  use  far  more  effectively  than 
has  been  the  case.  In  order  to  gain  this  result  we  must 
see  to  it  that  our  thought -movements  through  the  grades 
are  more  simple,  fundamental,  and  consecutive.  We  must 
first  select  those  important  centers  which  naturally  hold 
sway  over  future  developments.  These  centers  and  active 
interpreters  of  the  world  must  ground  themselves  deeply 
in  a  genuine  life  setting,  before  they  can  start  out  upon 
their  useful  career.  Each  time,  in  taking  up  a  new  subject 
having  in  it  such  a  strong  and  far-reaching  idea,  we  should 
make  a  thorough  job  of  it.  We  should  lay  the  foundations 
deep  and  take  plenty  of  time  to  bring  together  and  group 
in  proper  relation  all  the  facts  and  circumstantial  data 
that  exhibit  this  driving  idea  in  its  natural  habitat,  its  full, 
real  environment.  Only  thus  can  it  function  as  a  strong 
interpreter  of  later  similar  situations. 

If  we  can  once  get  started  right  in  the  middle  grades 
with  a  well-arranged  series  of  developing  big  object  lessons 
suitable  to  the  thinking  powers  of  the  children,  we  shall 


78  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

take  a  long  step  toward  establishing  a  wise  and  efficient 
practice  in  teaching. 

This  problem  stands  forth  as  a  conspicuous  landmark 
in  the  midst  of  our  present  educational  endeavors  and 
experiences.  It  marks  the  turning  point  in  the  present 
critical  stage  of  our  educational  evolution. 

The  practical  world  outside  of  the  school  has  been 
demonstrating  a  wise  use  of  this  big  object  lesson  by  giv- 
ing it  an  influential  place  in  carrying  out  impor- 
lessons  tant  enterprises  in  the  industrial,  scientific,  and 
outside  the  practical  world.  For  instance,  a  group  of 
wealthy  capitalists  and  of  influential  people 
was  strongly  interested  in  persuading  the  government  of 
the  United  States  to  establish  a  large  nitrate  plant  at  the 
Muscle  Shoals  on  the  Tennessee  River.  In  order  to  bring 
the  whole  matter  prominently  before  Congress  those  inter- 
ested employed  an  artist  to  paint  an  extensive  pan- 
oramic picture  of  the  Muscle  Shoals  district.  The  pur- 
pose was  to  bring  the  situation  concretely  before  the  Con- 
gressmen, to  show  the  surpassing  advantages  of  this  site 
and  its  possibilities  as  a  nitrate-producing  station.  By 
concrete  demonstration,  followed  by  full  descriptive  ex- 
planations, the  matter  was  to  be  so  clearly  set  forth  as  to 
convince  the  authorities  and  lead  them  to  action.  When 
people  desire  to  get  results  in  practical  life,  they  use  con- 
vincing arguments  in  the  form  of  pictures  and  concrete 
demonstration.  This  is  usually  done  in  the  case  of  adults 
who  might  be  regarded  as  beyond  the  need  of  what  are 
called  kindergarten  methods. 

Again,  at  the  San  Francisco  Exposition  the  different 
counties  in  California  and  other  western  states,  wishing 
to  attract  settlers  and  investors  into  those  districts,  set  up 


LARGER  LESSON  PLAN  BASED  ON  PROJECTS      79 

a  series  of  striking  pictures  and  object  lessons.  A  fruit 
district  in  Oregon,  for  example,  presented  a  series  of  mov- 
ing pictures  illustrating  the  local  fruit-growing  The  Ex- 
industry,  the  clearing  and  preparation  of  the  P0^00 
land,  the  planting  and  spraying  of  orchards,  the  irrigation 
ditches  at  work,  the  loaded  orchard  trees,  the  gather- 
ing and  marketing  of  fruit,  the  thrifty  homes  and  fine 
schools,  the  social  life  of  the  people,  the  mountain  scenery 
and  other  local  attractions.  A  lecturer,  of  fluent  speech 
and  marvelous  statistics  of  production,  explained  and 
further  elaborated  the  subjects  suggested  in  the  pictures. 
The  purpose,  of  course,  was  to  present  an  attractive  and 
convincing  picture  of  the  advantages  of  buying  a  fruit  farm 
and  of  settling  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

At  the  Exposition  quite  a  number  of  such  small  audience 
rooms  were  devoted  to  these  attractive  picture  shows  and 
descriptive  lectures.  They  were  remarkably  . 
striking  exhibits  of  the  resources  of  the  western  demonstra- 
and  mountain  states.  Indeed  the  whole  Exposi-  * 
tion,  in  its  numerous  phases,  was  a  collection  of  beautiful 
and  wonderful  object  lessons.  One  of  those  which  attracted 
much  notice  was  a  complete  miniature  representation  of 
the  Panama  Canal  in  which  the  Gatun  Dam,  the  locks  and 
lake,  the  Culebra  Cut  and  harbor  entrances,  were  reproduced 
and  clearly  shown  in  their  tropical  environment.  Iowa, 
as  the  chief  corn  state,  had  a  corn  palace  built  up  out  of 
the  ears  of  corn  and  decorated  with  the  yellow  and  other 
grains.  Corn  production  in  its  most  interesting  and  useful 
aspects  was  exhibited  in  curious  and  artistic  ways.  The 
school  children  of  San  Francisco  were  regularly  taken  upon 
visits  to  the  Exposition  in  classes,  and  were  thus  able  to 
get  the  benefit  of  this  remarkable  series  of  object  lessons. 


8o  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  better  demonstrations 
of  such  lessons  for  children  if  they  were  properly  reproduced 
and  discussed  later  in  the  schoolroom.  The  International 
Harvester  Company  has  taken  advantage  of  this  same  idea 
of  objectifying  its  great  productive  enterprise.  It  gives 
in  public  places  before  schools  a  series  of  pictures  of  the 
wheat  industry  accompanied  by  an  instructive  lecture  upon 
the  wheat  fields,  the  planting  and  harvesting  scenes,  the 
mills  and  shipments,  and  the  choice  loaf  of  bread  as  a 
symbol  and  result  of  this  world  process.  It  is  a  gigantic 
object  lesson  which  exhibits  to  the  onlooker  and  listener 
the  meaning  that  lies  behind  this  vast  production  and  in- 
cidentally advertises  these  important  interests  to  the  world 
of  consumers.  It  doubtless  pays,  for  this  kind  of  instruc- 
tion is  strong  and  effective. 

The  entire  succession  of  national  expositions  of  recent 
times,  beginning  with  Philadelphia  in  1876  and  ending 
with  San  Francisco  in  1915,  has  been  a  series  of  vast  object 
lessons  on  an  imposing  scale,  and  producing  important 
and  far-reaching  results.  They  have  exerted  a  powerful 
and  stimulating  influence  upon  agriculture,  mining,  manu- 
facturing, architecture,  education,  electrical  invention, 
machinery,  transportation,  and  other  great  human  interests. 

This  method  of  enforcing  truth  by  means  of  big  object 

lessons  is  in  vogue  among  practical  men  everywhere  in  a 

wide  variety  of  situations.     In  the  agricultural 

lessons          experiment  stations  of  our  state  colleges  and  uni- 

atuiu-          versities,  field  demonstrations  are  given  in  full 

versities 

detail.  Corn  and  wheat,  cotton  and  tobacco, 
fruits  and  vegetables  are  dealt  with  as  problems  under  field 
conditions  of  soil  and  sunlight  and  moisture.  Long  ago 
Benjamin  Franklin  showed  his  astuteness  by  this  method. 


LARGER   LESSON  PLAN   BASED   ON  PROJECTS  8 1 

Franklin  had  been  trying  in  his  published  paper  to  persuade 
the  farmers  about  Philadelphia  to  fertilize  their  lands  with 
lime  or  plaster  of  Paris.  They  failed  at  first  to  respond, 
so  he  selected  a  prominent  field  by  the  main  road  leading 
into  Philadelphia,  and  after  spreading  on  the  fertilizer  he 
sowed  wheat  in  prepared  furrows  and  strips  so  that  when 
the  wheat  came  up  the  farmers  could  read  in  large  green 
letters  :  "This  field  has  been  plastered." 

It  is  worth  suggesting  that  we  have  printed  in  big  letters 
on  every  textbook  page  devoted  to  the  dull,  abstract  treat- 
ment of  topics:  "These  pages  need  to  be  plastered  with 
descriptive  illustrations."  Many  of  our  books  need  to  be 
reconstructed  on  this  plan. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  in  Washington  publishes 
a  pamphlet,  No.  364,  entitled  "  A  Profitable  Cotton 
Farm."  It  begins  with  a  description  of  a 
cotton  plantation  of  less  than  a  hundred  acres 

which  had  been  worn  out  by  long  cultivation  fsf°ob- 

J  '  ject  lesson 

without  rotation  of  crops  or  replenishing  the 
waste  till  it  no  longer  paid  for  the  labor  of  cultivation. 
Then  follows  a  full  descriptive  account,  with  maps,  dia- 
grams, and  illustrations,  of  a  successful  effort  to  restore 
the  soil  fertility  and  build  up  this  farm  again  to  a  strong 
paying  basis.  By  deeper  plowing,  by  using  rock  fertilizers 
and  manures,  by  rotation  of  crops  and  careful  cultivation, 
by  wise  seed  selection,  by  raising  stock  and  feeding,  by 
prudent  marketing  and  by  careful,  scientific  attention  to 
business,  this  became  a  very  profitable  farm  investment. 
The  plan  was  worked  out  during  a  series  of  years,  and  exact 
accounts  were  kept  of  the  outlay  for  labor,  for  fertilizers,  for 
buildings,  for  stock,  for  houses  and  machinery,  and  for  seed. 
Likewise  the  returns  for  grain,  hay,  and  stock  sold  were 


82  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

matter  of  record.  This  was  a  full,  objective,  practical 
demonstration,  under  usual  farm  conditions,  of  what  can 
be  done  and  ought  to  be  done  on  scores  and  hundreds  of 
such  farms. 

The  agricultural  and  engineering  departments  of  our 
state  universities  are  showing  us  a  practical  pedagogy 
based  on  objective  demonstration  in  field  and  forest,  in 
garden  and  orchard,  in  dairying,  in  stock  and  poultry 
raising,  in  bee  culture,  in  road  and  bridge  building,  and  in 
many  other  lines  of  practical  life. 

This   concrete   method   of    demonstration    is   a   proper 

combination  of  the  scientific  with  the  practical  and  strangely 

enough  has  been  developed  and  has  proved  the 

that  woriuf    best  method  for  educating  adults,  outside  of  the 


in  the  busi-  school.     In  practical  life  when  we  undertake  to 

ness  world  A 

convince  others  of  the  value  of  important  proj- 
ects in  mines  and  factories,  in  industries  and  important 
schemes  on  land  and  sea,  we  invariably  use  big,  concrete 
object  lessons  which  set  forth  the  facts  and  processes  and 
results  with  unmistakable  clearness.  This  is  a  kind  of 
pedagogy  which  the  world  outside  of  the  school  has  tried 
and  found  effective  to  produce  results.  And  yet  in  the 
schools,  with  young  children  having  little  or  no  experience, 
we  undertake  the  teaching  of  these  very  same  subjects, 
as  commerce,  mining,  agriculture,  and  government,  with- 
out any,  or  at  least  without  adequate,  illustration.  We  as 
school  teachers  should  go  out  into  the  world  and  take 
lessons  of  practical  farmers,  business  men,  and  promoters 
of  large  enterprises  in  order  to  learn  effective  modes  of 
instruction. 

The  attempt  to  instruct  children  at  the  very  beginning 
of  such  topics  by  using  condensed  and  abstract  statements 


LARGER   LESSON  PLAN   BASED   ON   PROJECTS  83 

as  the  principal  basis  for  knowledge  is  a  curious  and  unac- 
countable misfit  in  education.  An  equally  curious  misfit 
is  an  occasional  effort  to  impose  upon  young  teachers 
unapplied  pedagogical  generalities,  for  it  accustoms  them 
at  the  start  to  a  false  method  of  thinking  and  of  teaching. 


CHAPTER  V 

THREE    IMPORTANT    PRINCIPLES    PUT    TO    WORK 
UNDER  RIGHT  CONDITIONS 

THE   enlarged  object  lesson  of   the  preceding  chapter 

furnishes  a  fitting  and  profitable  introduction  to  knowledge 

in  different  fields.     But  it  is  far  more  than  a 

The  first  re-  pleasant  introduction.     It  has  in  it  also  a  con- 

quirement 

a  large  structive  principle  upon  which  to  develop  a  plan 
whole118  °f  teaching.  The  enlarged  object  lesson,  worked 
out  as  a  developing  type,  is  only  another  name 
for  the  complete  teaching  unit  or  knowledge-whole,  which 
is  the  basis  of  classroom  method.  The  first  step  in  the 
improvement  of  our  methods  is  to  furnish  such  strong, 
well-organized  teaching  units,  which  are  the  proper  natural 
embodiment  of  right  teaching  principles.  Until  our  course 
of  study  is  made  up  of  such  selected  and  developed  knowl- 
edge units,  our  teachers  are  at  a  loss  what  to  do  and  the 
principles  of  teaching  do  not  find  appropriate  material 
to  work  upon. 

The  three  principles  mainly  dealt  with  in  the  present 
chapter  have  been  matters  of  long  discussion  among  teach- 
ers and  writers  and  are  now  clearly  understood. 

Three  fa- 
miliar How  to  turn  them  into  active  use  and  make  them 

effective  in  school  lessons  is  the  main  concern. 
On  the  basis  of  the  enlarged  object  lesson  or  teaching  unit 
worked  out  to  its  final  results,  we  shall  now  attempt  a  dis- 

84 


THREE   IMPORTANT  PRINCIPLES  85 

cussion  of  three  principles.  The  first  is  the  process  of 
combining  inductive  and  deductive  thinking  in  the  devel- 
opment of  essential  truths.  The  second  is  apperception  or 
the  interpretative  use  of  acquired  knowledge  as  a  means 
of  assimilating  new  and  kindred  topics.  The  third  is  self- 
activity  in  the  independent  and  reflective  use  of  knowledge 
in  solving  new  problems  and  in  organizing  the  field  of 
knowledge  progressively. 

First,  in  the  elaborate  treatment  of  our  large  teaching 
units  or  type  studies,  such  as  the  Virginia  Plantation  in 
history,  we  magnify  the  principal  stages  of  the 
inductive-deductive  thought-movement.  To  be-  tive-deduc- 
gin  with,  the  concrete,  descriptive  stage  is  tivePr°- 
greatly  enlarged  by  a  full  exposition  of  the  strik- 
ing features  of  a  single  tobacco  plantation.  Following 
this  a  series  of  comparisons  with  other  plantations  in  the 
cotton,  rice,  and  sugar-producing  states  is  presented  till 
the  plantation  idea  has  reached  its  full  scope.  Finally, 
the  application  of  this  southern  idea  to  other  regions  and 
to  the  whole  industrial,  social,  and  political  life  of  the  time 
is  made.  In  such  topics  we  find  the  main  aspects  of  in- 
ductive-deductive teaching  strongly  stressed.  Instead  of 
a  curtailment  of  these  phases,  there  is  an  expansion  and 
almost  dramatic  staging  of  the  main  steps.  When  children 
are  dealing  with  important  and  sometimes  difficult  subjects 
for  the  first  time,  such  dramatic  exhibition  is  needed.  The 
extended  and  elaborate  treatment  of  topics  is  peculiarly 
appropriate  to  the  mental  needs  of  beginners. 

A  type  study,  such  as  the  Salt  River  Project  in  irrigation, 
expanded  into  a  complete  monograph,  maps  out  on  a  big 
scale  (of  miles  rather  than  inches)  the  processes  of  induc- 
tion and  deduction.  For  example,  the  comparisons  of  the 


86  TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 

Salt  River  Project  with  the  Rio  Grande  Project  at  Elephant 
Butte  stand  out  with  conspicuous  features.  These  might 
be  called  object  lessons  in  the  thought  processes. 

In  contrast  to  this  the  more  or  less  prevalent  plan  in 

the  introductory  texts  used  in  middle  grades  of  presenting 

condensed  or  abstract  statements  to  children, 

violation^    as  a  beginning  treatment  of  important  topics,  is 


these  a  direct  and  flagrant  violation  of  sound  inductive 

principles 

teaching,  and  is  an  equally  wrong  method  of 
using  deduction.  The  fact  that  general  truths  are  easy  and 
intelligible  to  teachers  as  the  matured  results  of  long  study 
and  experience  is  no  excuse.  These  definitions  or  con- 
densed summaries  are  vague  and  difficult  and  disappointing 
to  children.  They  put  an  artificial  obstruction  in  the 
pathway  of  the  child's  thinking.  They  almost  blindfold 
the  child  at  the  start.  The  rank  deductive  method  cancels 
the  natural  process  by  which  conclusions  are  reached, 
makes  the  child's  learning  needlessly  obscure  and  difficult, 
and  robs  him  of  a  keen  insight  into  meanings  and  values. 

This  dogmatic  and  arbitrary  imposition  of  unsupported 
conclusions  upon  a  child's    mind    not  only  corrupts  the 

sources  of  knowledge  but  it  also  blocks  the  way 
The  en-  to  a  proper  development  of  the  same  topics  in 

larged  ob-  .    * 

ject  lesson      their  later  stages.     Knowledge  should  be  a  con- 


tinuous  advancement  of  main  courses  of  thought 
through  a  developing  series  of  kindred  topics, 
for  example,  a  series  of  kindred  types  in  canal  projects. 
This  progress  gives  the  proper  interplay  between  inductive 
and  deductive  modes  of  thinking.  Ideas,  like  trees,  should 
grow  and  expand  from  year  to  year.  But  if  the  young 
tree  is  mutilated  or  stunted  in  its  early  growth,  its  later 
proper  development  is  spoiled.  It  is  of  the  first  importance 


THREE   IMPORTANT  PRINCIPLES  87 

to  start  out  right  in  the  intermediate  grades  with  the  strong, 
healthy,  full  growth  of  a  few  main  ideas  which  may  expand 
later  to  their  natural,  mature  meaning.  The  enlarged 
object  lesson,  built  up  upon  sensory  materials  with  the 
aid  of  the  constructive  imagination,  as  a  first  full,  concrete 
expression  of  an  important  organizing  idea,  furnishes  the 
first  stage  of  successful  inductive-deductive  teaching.  It 
is  the  appropriate  measuring  unit  upon  which  we  can  size 
up  and  standardize  later  knowledge  materials  and  modes 
of  instruction  in  this  part  of  the  course.  The  deductive 
process  in  the  development  of  thought  is  just  as  essential 
as  the  inductive,  and  there  is  a  constant  interplay  between 
the  two.  The  mistake  so  often  made  in  teaching  is  that 
of  forcing  abstract  thought  too  early,  before  the  concrete 
illustrations  have  been  clearly  given,  upon  which,  as  a 
basis,  a  safe  deductive  application  can  be  made  to  other 
cases.  This  premature  effort  at  both  inductive  and  deduc- 
tive thinking  leads  to  those  misfortunes  which  are  sure  to 
follow  when  we  adopt  the  too  common  practice  of  early 
dogmatizing  and  of  dictating  to  children  the  main  concepts 
as  ready-made  conclusions  for  their  acceptance. 

Secondly,  the  principle  of  apperception  is  a  sharp  test 
of  the  working  value  of  knowledge,  of  its  real  utility.  To 
apperceive  a  new  subject  is  to  apply  old  knowl-  Appercep- 
edge  to  its  right  interpretation.  A  totally  new  tion 
subject  like  the  Chinese  language,  which  has  in  it  no  familiar 
elements,  is  extremely  difficult  to  learn  because  it  finds 
no  points  of  contact  in  our  previous  knowledge,  nothing  to 
hook  on  to.  French,  on  the  contrary,  to  one  familiar  with 
English  and  Latin,  is  easy  because  so  many  words  are  simi- 
lar in  form  and  meaning  to  the  English  and  Latin.  One  of 
the  chief  economies  in  education  is  to  see  to  it  that  the 


88  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

mind  is  early  and  richly  stored  with  those  types  of  knowl- 
edge that  interpret  or  apperceive  on  a  broad  scale.  This 
is  the  clear  and  express  embodiment  of  a  potent  idea,  a 
real  type,  for  example,  the  First  Steamboat  on  the  Ohio. 
This  idea  thoroughly  understood  is  ready  to  serve  as  a 
keen  interpretative  factor  hi  a  multitude  of  future  impor- 
tant navigation  problems.  The  whole  purpose  of  such  a 
large  object  lesson  is  to  set  forth  one  single  idea  in  a  clear 
light,  with  its  full  surroundings  and  in  its  whole  meaning. 
There  is  nothing  vague  or  uncertain  about  the  steamboat 
idea  because  the  meaning  is  brought  out  unmistakably 
by  a  full,  concrete  setting.  By  comparing  this  idea  of  steam 
power  on  rivers  in  its  concrete  manifestation  with  other 
similar  situations  on  lakes  and  oceans,  the  child's  thinking 
becomes  quick  and  flexible  in  applying  its  purport  to  a 
variety  of  life  conditions.  Thus  the  apperceptive  power 
of  an  idea  grows  steadily  stronger  and  keener.  This  inten- 
sive treatment  of  a  single  important  idea,  its  concrete  en- 
largement and  its  sharp  illumination  from  every  point  of 
view,  turning  it  into  use  in  a  variety  of  ways, 

Progressive  .-i    •.  •    ,  j       i     •,  •  ,       P    • 

assimilation    until  it  grows  into  a  ready  habit  of  mterpret- 
and  use  of      mg  new  situations  —  all  this  is  a  marked  em- 

knowledge  " 

phasis  of  the  practical-use  side  of  knowledge. 
This  is  precisely  what  is  meant  by  apperception.  The 
first  steamboat  idea,  developed  into  a  full  understanding 
of  the  great  era  of  steamboat  navigation  on  the  Mississippi 
and  western  rivers,  has  a  wide-reaching  interpretative 
value.  It  quickly  explains  the  growth  of  lake  traffic. 
It  expands  to  the  meaning  of  seaboard  and  ocean  trade 
and  develops  step  by  step  into  a  world  idea  which  is 
even  now  opening  up  into  a  still  greater  future  for  world 
trade. 


THREE   IMPORTANT   PRINCIPLES  89 

The  extreme  value  of  this  principle  and  of  this  method 
in  building  up  early  a  body  of  keen,  active  knowledge 
which  will  be  serviceable  in  later  studies  cannot  continuous 
be  overestimated.  In  this  fundamental  apper-  organization 
ceptive  process  of  organizing  knowledge  we  find  out  that 
a  few  basal  ideas  embodied  in  strong  object  lessons  are  the 
organizers  of  a  course  of  study,  and  they  continue  to  develop 
and  grow  stronger  as  apperceiving  centers  through  the 
whole  curriculum.  By  setting  up  these  strong,  conspicuous 
object  lessons  early,  on  a  large  scale  for  the  middle  grades, 
we  are  laying  the  sure  foundations  for  a  stable  knowledge 
structure  and  for  a  rapid  advance  in  similar  future  studies. 
Having  thoroughly  mastered  a  group  of  these  strong,  prac- 
tical ideas  in  the -middle  grades,  the  children  are  prepared 
to  move  rapidly  to  the  conquest  of  new  but  kindred  lessons. 
The  grammar  grades  will  simply  offer  a  further  develop- 
ment of  these  same  ideas  expanding  under  new  conditions. 

This  essential  continuity  of  thought,  beginning  strongly 
in  big  topics  in  the  middle  grades,  is  marked  in  history. 
It  is  seen  in  the  four  hundred  years  of  westward  continuity 
expansion,  illustrated  by  the  Trip  to  California  i°  history 
in  '49,  in  the  strengthening  principle  of  self-government, 
typified  first  in  the  town  meeting,  in  the  expansion  of  the 
representative  system ;  in  the  improvement  and  extension 
of  commercial  routes,  in  short,  in  all  the  big  topics,  like 
slavery,  emigration,  tariff  legislation,  and  the  growth  of 
cities.  The  Purchase  of  Louisiana,  as  a  type  study,  shows 
in  one  conspicuous  illustration  the  active  principle  of  west- 
ward expansion  which  then  interprets  a  whole  chain  of 
very  important  similar  events  running  through  our  national 
history  for  three  hundred  years. 

The  thorough  mastery  of  one  stage  in  the  growth  of  such 


90  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

a  history  topic  furnishes  the  apperceptive  material  for  a 
rapid,  conquering  advance  through  earlier  and  later  stages. 
The  fact  that  our  history  studies  have  failed  to  show  up 
clearly  this  natural,  sequential  development  of  ideas  is 
proof  adequate  of  the  blighting  effect  of  a  dogmatic,  abbre- 
viated mode  of  teaching.  This  latter  method  starts  out 
with  vague,  blurred  ideas  and  depends  mainly  upon  a 
rigid  memory  process  of  learning  dictated,  somewhat 
detached,  statements.  This  arbitrary  process  results  in  a 
collection  of  facts  and  stereotyped  sentences  of  a  fixed 
and  static  quality.  They  stand  alone,  sufficient  unto 
themselves,  finding  too  little  relation  to  what  precedes 
and  follows.  Flexibility  and  continuity  of  developing 
thought  in  an  apperceiving  process,  with  ready  adjustment 
to  new  situations,  are  not  the  earmarks  of  this  one-sided 
mode  of  study.  Purely  deductive,  dictated  teaching  is 
not  an  assimilative,  building-up  process. 

In  like  manner,  big  topics  elaborately  treated  in  the 

fourth-grade  geography  center  around  a  few  constructive 

ideas  which  will  carry  their  interpreting  value 

Examples  .  . 

strongly  into  all  the  later  studies.  The  com- 
plete clearing  up  of  these  fundamental  ideas  through  for- 
cible object  lessons  at  the  beginning  is  a  wise  precaution. 
Such  topics,  for  example,  as  a  sawmill  and  lumbering  at 
Minneapolis,  a  cotton  plantation  in  Georgia,  the  Hudson 
River,  an  orange  grove  in  Florida,  the  harbor  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, the  power  plant  at  Niagara,  a  coal  mine  in  Illinois, 
a  salmon  fishery  in  Puget  Sound,  the  construction  of  jetties 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  —  these  topics  strongly 
developed  become  keen  and  swift  interpreters  of  scores  of 
kindred  lessons  later  hi  the  course.  This  concrete  enrich- 
ment and  full  clarification  of  fundamental  ideas  at  the 


THREE   IMPORTANT  PRINCIPLES  9 1 

start  is  the  wisest  economy  in  the  whole  teaching  process. 
It  is  the  very  essence  of  usefulness  in  knowledge  because 
it  puts  the  whole  stress  upon  that  kind  of  knowledge  which 
comes  at  once  and  perpetually  into  use  as  a  keen  interpreta- 
tive factor. 

The  abstract,  formal  method  in  this  important  respect 
is  misleading  and  fraudulent  because  it  lays  the  emphasis 
upon  a  kind  of  knowledge  that  will  not  work,  Abortive 
that  proves  helpless  in  the  pinch  of  practical  use.  fa"^6^6 
It  is  now  well  known  that  knowledge  gained  by  such  methods 
is  weak  and  useless  in  power  to  interpret  new  subjects. 
This  is  all  too  natural  because  such  general  truths,  unsup- 
ported by  facts  and  illustrations,  are  vague  and  indefinite 
in  meaning  and  cannot  explain  themselves,  to  say  nothing 
of  explaining  other  things.  They  certainly  fail  to  unravel 
new  and  complex  situations.  In  grammar,  for  example, 
it  has  been  demonstrated  many  times  over  that  a  memory 
knowledge  of  bare  rules  and  principles  does  not  prevent 
mistakes  in  the  use  of  common  English ;  not  that  there  is 
anything  wrong  in  rules  and  principles,  but  because  knowl- 
edge in  this  abstract  form  is  vague  and  unreliable  when 
demanded  for  use.  The  principle  of  apperception  is  ex- 
tremely practical  and  exacting  in  its  demands  and  it  rejects 
as  useless  and  false  the  vague,  generalized  knowledge  that 
will  not  function  in  school  needs  or  in  later  life's  needs. 
Knowledge,  on  the  other  hand,  that  is  developed  clearly 
out  of  living  examples  and  is  constantly  reenforced  by 
quick  reference  to  facts  of  experience  conforms  fully  to  the 
sound  principle  of  apperception. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  there  is  no  longer  a  reasonable 
doubt  of  the  correctness  and  supreme  value  of  this  prin- 
ciple of  apperception.  Knowledge  that  will  not  act  as 


92  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

apperceptive  material  in  progressive  learning  is  at  an 
absolute  discount.  We  are  discovering  that  a  large  amount 
Em  basis  on  °^  ^s  kind  of  knowledge,  so  called,  has  been 
usable  stored  up  in  children's  minds  as  useless  junk. 
To  get  rid  of  this  waste  and  dead  wood  in  study, 
and  to  put  the  attentive  effort  of  children  upon  that  kind 
and  quality  of  knowledge  that  will  function  most  effectually 
in  learning  new  lessons  is  our  present  main  business. 

Thirdly,  another  principle  of  prime  importance,  and  now 
generally  accepted  as  such,  is  that  of  self-activity.  It 
Self-  -  has  been  much  talked  of  in  theory,  but  is  very 
activity  elusive  in  practice.  It  is  the  idea  that  children 
are  to  show  a  free,  self -active,  and  self -determining  spirit 
in  studies.  The  big,  expanded  object  lesson  is  a  potent 
device  for  getting  children  started  right  into  freedom,  inde- 
pendence, and  largeness  of  thought.  It  is  copious  in  its 
realistic  and  illustrative  materials.  It  seeks  to  come  at 
a  topic  expectantly,  picturesquely,  and  with  full  apprecia- 
tion, to  survey  it  in  its  manifold  relations,  to  balance  it 
up  on  this  side  and  that.  It  holds  to  a  focal  center  and  yet 
reaches  out  in  several  directions  into  fruitful  inquiries. 
Properly  elaborated,  it  goes  down  into  the  roots  of  the 
main  subject  getting  at  basal  facts  and  relations.  It 
involves  problems  and  brings  to  light  whole  series  of 
problems. 

Many  of  the  big  topics  or  type-studies  arc  projects, 
pure  and  simple,  that  is,  practical  enterprises,  worked  out 
Vital  as  problems  under  strenuous  life  conditions, 

problems  Every  step  in  the  execution  of  a  great  project 
like  the  Panama  Canal  is  an  intense  and  vital  problem, 
which  can  be  placed  before  children  as  such,  and  their 
best  mental  effort  can  be  thrown  into  the  solution  of  these 


THREE   IMPORTANT  PRINCIPLES  93 

problems.  For  example,  What  were  the  chief  purposes 
in  building  the  Gatun  Dam,  and  how  must  it  be  built  to 
accomplish  these  purposes?  Hpw  could  a  hydro-electric 
power  plant  be  built  at  Gatun  Spillway,  and  where  could 
it  be  put  to  use  in  the  Canal  Zone  ?  The  big  topics  not  only 
present  these  problems  clearly,  but  they  also  supply  the 
facts  and  data  upon  which,  as  a  basis,  the  children  are 
enabled  to  think  out  a  solution. 

Such  big,  intensive  object  lessons  are  rich  in  thought 
and  set  the  minds  of  children  into  free  and  liberal  action 
toward  important,  self  -determining  efforts.  This 

The  big 

has  been  fully  demonstrated  in  such  topics  as  project  a 


the  planning  and  working  of  a  gold  mine  in 
Colorado,  the  building  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  and  self-; 
the  Robin  Hood  stories,  the  construction  and 
voyage  of  the  first  steamboat  on  the  Ohio,  the  overland 
journey  to  California  in  '49,  the  problem  story  of  Damon 
and  Pythias,  equipping  for  a  summer  camping  season 
in  the  mountains.  It  is  a  strong  stimulus  to  children  in 
their  early  years  to  furnish  them  a  chance  to  reach  down 
deep  into  the  roots  of  a  few  important  problem  studies. 
They  gain  the  privilege  of  collecting  around  central  ideas 
the  full  complement  of  pertinent  knowledge.  They  arrange 
significant  facts  upon  a  strong  central  problem  whose 
solution  reaches  out  to  interpret  life  in  many  directions. 

The  barren,  single  facts,  the  algebraic  generalities  with 
which  our  primary  school  texts  are  sometimes  cluttered, 
give  a  surprisingly  narrow  limit  to  a  child's  thinking. 
They  lack  stimulus  and  free  scope.  They  cramp  and  hinder 
spontaneous  movement  in  what  might  be  a  rich,  growing 
field  of  thought.  Freedom  to  think  out  problems  is  im- 
possible within  such  narrow  boundaries,  just  as  freedom 


94  TEACHING  BY   PROJECTS 

and  flexibility  of  speech  are  denied  to  one  who  is  narrowly 
limited  in  vocabulary.  The  first  important  factor  in  the 
stimulation  of  a  child's  own  thought  is  valuable,  realistic, 
and  copious  knowledge,  centering  upon  some  important 
project.  The  second  stage  is  furnished  by  a  further  natural 
expansion  of  these  worthy  topics  into  still  larger  and  richer 
fields  of  thought.  These  extensions  are  found  in  the  big, 
later,  kindred  topics  of  the  upper  grades.  The  mind  grows 
in  power  with  what  it  feeds  on  and  assimilates.  There  is 
no  place  in  education  where  rich  and  abundant  information 
centering  at  a  few  points  is  more  appreciated  and  more 
significant  than  in  these  middle  and  grammar  grades, 
where  wide-awake  children  are  getting  their  first  full  supply 
of  palatable  mental  food.  At  this  critical  stage  we  can 
afford  to  surprise  the  children  with  a  few  strengthening 
drafts  at  the  full  fountain  of  realistic  knowledge.  For 
once  in  their  lives,  and  that  early,  they  should  experience 
the  unstinted  bounty  of  a  few  overflowing  subjects  of 
study. 

How  can  these  things  come  to  pass  in  a  plan  of  instruc- 
tion based  upon  narrow,  dogmatic  thought  processes  with 

a  shallow  and  meager  content?  The  setting  and 
Narrow,  solution  of  problems  in  projects  is  the  standard 
processes  form  of  self-activity.  But  at  the  start,  the  dog- 
activity86  matic  process  gives  us  the  antidote  for  all  this 

problem-work  by  foretelling  the  conclusion  of 
the  whole  matter.  The  premature  solution  of  every  prob- 
lem is  given.  It  anticipates  and  precludes  the  thinking 
process  which  should  lead  up  to  this  conclusion.  It  bars 
out  self-activity  in  thinking  and  calls  for  docile  memory 
performance.  To  awaken  self-activity  in  children,  we 
must  give  them  more  to  think  about,  a  wide  range  of  valu- 


THREE   IMPORTANT  PRINCIPLES  95 

able  facts  and  ideas,  and  greater  freedom  in  a  full  field  of 
knowledge.  A  predetermined,  cut-and-dried  process  of 
learning  which  leads  to  certain  dictated  formulae  forbids 
self -activity.  But  the  natural  full  growth  of  purposeful 
ideas  leads  to  a  dynamic  expansion  of  thought  which  must 
take  its  own  course  and  is  not  always  predictable.  This 
growth  points  to  a  profitable  evolution  of  thought  into  new 
phases,  allowing  a  free  mind  opportunity  to  blaze  its  own 
pioneer  way. 

The  principle  of  self -activity  would  imply  that  the  entire 
self  and  the  real  self  is  brought  into  full  action.  In  com- 
plete self-activity  the  whole  force  of  one's  nature  is  appealed 
to  and  set  in  motion  in  untrammeled,  spontaneous  effort. 
When  properly  directed  upon  worthy  projects,  this  complete 
exertion  of  the  self  is  the  highest  kind  of  training  and  of 
living.  Two  main  elements  of  this  kind  of  self-activity 
have  been  strongly  emphasized  in  our  recent  educational 
discussions,  —  interest  and  effort. 

Interest  is  the  ready,  delighted  response  of  the  soul  to 
those  phenomena  or  experiences  in  nature  and  in  human 
life  which  appeal  to  it  as  valuable  and  worthy,  interest  and 
They  hold  our  interest  and  attention  as  valuable  effort 
in  their  own  right.  Voluntary  effort  is  the  impulse  of 
the  soul  to  express  itself  and  maintain  itself,  to  subdue 
and  appropriate  the  forces  about  it  and  make  them  subject 
to  the  self.  It  is  the  struggle  to  gain  the  ends  of  life  against 
opposition  and  difficulty.  Interest  in  projects  and  achieve- 
ments measures  and  determines  their  values,  and  effort  seeks 
to  realize  these  values,  to  bring  them  into  full  possession. 

Accordingly  the  objects  and  undertakings  one  is  strongly 
and  permanently  interested  in  are  the  expression  of  one's 
real  character.  On  this  basis,  also,  the  things  one  is  deter- 


96  TEACHING  BY   PROJECTS 

mined  to  gain  and  to  hold  by  effort  are  the  expression  of 
strength  and  unity  of  life. 

In  laying  out  a  plan  of  instruction,  we  should  provide 
for  a  full  measure  of  this  self-activity  grounded  upon  a 
strong  union  of  interest  with  voluntary  effort.  To  satisfy 
these  conditions  we  must  have  a  course  of  study  full  of 
valuable  knowledge  and  abounding  in  true  projects  which 
appeal  to  the  self  as  worth  while.  Every  subject  broached 
should  be  like  the  opening  up  and  exploitation  of  a  gold 
mine.  It  should  challenge  the  self  to  the  strongest  reaction 
for  self-realization.  The  type-study  projects  are  selected 
and  organized  into  practical  units  of  knowledge  which  are 
designed  to  combine  these  best  elements  of  strength.  They 
really  grow  out  of  life  situations  and  circumstances  as 
necessary  problems  which  challenge  the  thinker  to  his  best 
reflective  and  constructive  effort. 

The  type-study  projects  already  worked  out  as  tentative 
efforts  to  realize  this  purpose  may  be  fairly  judged  on  the 
basis  of  these  principles.  The  Salt  River  Project,  the 
Virginia  Plantation,  the  Peter  Cooper  story,  the  Panama 
Canal,  and  the  Muscle  Shoals  Project  are  definite  efforts 
to  organize  suitable  knowledge  for  regular  classroom  use. 
Our  conclusion  is  that  these  three  principles  —  induction, 
apperception,  and  self-activity  —  fail  to  function  in  all  sub- 
jects which  exhibit  a  feeble  and  shallow  knowledge.  There 
are  three  kinds  of  so-called  knowledge  in  which  these  three 
principles  find  no  footing,  no  ground  on  which  to  work, 
(i)  vague  and  abstract  knowledge,  (2)  miscellaneous  or 
unorganized  knowledge,  (3)  mere  static,  cataloguedmaterial. 
Unfortunately  these  are  the  prevailing  forms  of  knowledge 
found  in  many  of  our  textbooks,  notably  in  intermediate 
and  crrarnmar  grades. 


THREE   IMPORTANT  PRINCIPLES  97 

Before  we  can  get  these  three  principles  into  use  we  must 
change  the  knowledge  diet  offered  to  the  children.  We 
must  organize  abundant,  concrete  knowledge  around  a 
few  developing,  purposive  thought-centers.  We  must 
gather  together  the  intensive,  vital  experiences  that  give 
a  genuine  enrichment  and  adequate  unfolding  to  every 
real  project  that  is  brought  before  the  attention  of  children. 
This  conclusion  is  so  simple  and  evident  that  we  would 
be  ashamed  to  state  it  were  it  not  so  constantly  overlooked 
and  neglected. 

REFERENCES 

In  the  Series  of  Type  Studies  and  Lesson  Plans  published 
at  George  Peabody  College  the  following  are  given  in  pam- 
phlet form: 

The  Salt  River  Project. 

The  Virginia  Plantation. 

Peter  Cooper  and  George  Peabody. 

The  Panama  Canal. 

The  Muscle  Shoals. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  GROWING  TENDENCY  TO  ADOPT  LARGE   PROJECTS 
AS  STUDY  UNITS 

ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  ERIE  CANAL  PROJECT 

AMONG  students  and  teachers  there  seems  to  be  a  grow- 
ing tendency  to  select  from  each  study  a  few  big  teaching 
units,  to  emphasize  these  as  centers  for  the  organization 
of  knowledge,  and  to  neglect  minor  subjects  and  mere  facts. 
We  are  engaged  in  a  knowledge-sifting  process,  a  reflective 
weighing  of  relative  values,  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
the  things  of  chief  importance. 

This  tendency  to  centralize  and  enrich  instruction  at  a 
few  main  points  is  showing  itself  in  a  variety  of  ways.  For 
a  period  of  twenty  or  thirty  years,  in  teaching 
wholes  as  reading  and  literature  in  the  grades,  the  minds 
centers  of  of  teachers  have  been  converging  more  and  more 
upon  a  few  of  the  longer  classics  as  chief  centers 
of  study,  for  example,  The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish, 
Robinson  Crusoe,  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  Rip  Van  Winkle, 
The  King  of  the  Golden  River,  The  Great  Stone  Face,  Dickens's 
Christmas  Carol,  The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamclin,  Treasure 
Island,  etc.  Each  of  these  is  an  elaborately  developed 
whole,  an  enriched  and  standard  unit  of  thought,  a  project. 
Properly  taught,  it  produces  a  cumulative,  impressive 
educational  influence.  The  Christmas  Carol  is  read  through 
as  a  whole  and  develops  into  a  series  of  lessons  enforcing  a 
central  idea. 

98 


TENDENCY   TOWARD  LARGE   PROJECTS  99 

In  literature,  therefore,  teachers  have  formed  the  habit 
of  centering  attention  upon  important  literary  wholes, 
spending  a  month  or  even  a  whole  term  upon  the  elaborate 
study  of  a  single  poem  or  story.  Around  this  piece  they 
then  group  other  kindred  stories  and  poems,  leading  to  a 
still  stronger  comprehensive  organization  of  knowledge 
materials.  Instead  of  fragments  of  poems  and  choice 
extracts  we  select  a  simple  poem  like  the  Building  of  the 
Ship,  and  the  main  idea  elaborated  in  this  becomes  the 
focal  center  upon  which  to  group  other  poems  and  prose 
selections,  such  as  My  Captain,  The  Star-Spangled  Banner, 
Webster's  Speeches  on  the  Union,  and  the  Lincoln 
Inaugurals. 

The  master  minds  in  literature  everywhere  show  this 
marked  propensity  to  gather  together  and  frame  up  their 
thoughts  into  these  units  of  constructive  art, 
which  we  call  masterpieces  and  even  projects.  Literature 

supplies  the 

leachers  are  waking  to  the  discovery  that  in  master- 
these  finished  products  of  great  minds  are  re-  teaching  art 
vealed  also  the  masterpieces  of  the  best  teaching 
art ;  because  master  minds,  working  at  their  best,  instinc- 
tively hit  upon  the  choicest  mode  of  developing,  organizing, 
and  expressing  great  thoughts.  All  important  thought 
studies  should  reap  the  benefit  of  this  discovery,  namely, 
that  classic  stories  and  poems  are  the  best  models  we  have 
of  big,  well-organized  units  of  study.  The  literature  we 
use  in  schools  deals  only  with  noble  themes.  Other  studies 
should  deal  with  nothing  less  than  big  thoughts.  The 
minor,  fragmentary,  inconsequential  facts  and  trivialities 
of  knowledge  should  be  banished  from  the  school.  In 
every  study  there  are  a  few  life  centers  and  they  should 
be  found  out  and  made  the  most  of. 


IOO  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

The  opposite  extremes  to  the  ideal  forms  of  literature 

are  the  realistic  products  of  the  manual  arts.     They  are 

also   large  units  of   thought.    They,  too,  now 

Complete       stand  out  as  complete  units  of  construction, 

units  of  con- 
struction in  not  as  bits  and  fragments  as  formerly.  The 
the^manuai  objects  constructed  now  by  children  in  the  shops 
are  complete  projects  or  units  of  effort,  requir- 
ing a  well-thought-out  series  of  mental  and  physical  ac- 
tivities, extending  through  days  and  weeks  of  continuous 
effort  and  ending  in  a  complete,  finished,  and  serviceable 
project;  such  objects,  for  example,  as  a  table,  a  chair,  a 
bird  house,  a  complete  woven  fabric,  or  a  bound  volume. 
Not  many  such  products  can  be  wrought  out  by  each  child. 
In  the  process  of  thinking  out  a  complete  design  of  a 
table,  for  example,  and  in  the  later  careful  execution  of 
the  constructive  processes,  a  boy  has  carried  through  his 
thought  and  motor  effort  to  a  complete  achievement. 
These  well-thought-out  and  well-executed  projects  may  be 
called,  in  a  limited  sense,  masterpieces  of  design  and  con- 
struction. Such  finished  units  of  construction  are  objective 
demonstrations  of  the  big  unit  idea  in  studies. 

The  household  arts,  also,  and  the  school  and  home  garden 
(not  to  say  agriculture),  are  demonstrating  to  the  world 
the  value  of  complete  enterprises,  entire  projects,  as  a 
sound  basis  for  school  exercises.  (See  Chapter  I.) 

The  report  of  the   Committee  of  Eight  of  the  National 

Historical  Society  on  the  course  of  study  in  elementary 

history  is  a  pronounced  effort  to  reduce  the  num- 

mittee  of       ber  of  topics  for  each  year,  to  omit  minor  facts 

Eight  on        an(j  statements,  and  to  gain  time  for  a  fuller 

history 

treatment  of  main  topics.     This  report  stands 
out  as  a  landmark  in  the  improvement  of  history  instruction. 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  IOI 

There  is  also  a  growing  and  powerful  tendency  to  apply 
the  big-unit  idea  to  geography  study.  Outstanding  geo- 
graphical types  are  set  forth  with  descriptive  Projects  in 
fullness,  as,  the  Mississippi  River,  the  Building  &*°&*pby 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  the  Panama  Canal,  the 
Steel  Industry  at  Pittsburgh,  Niagara  Falls,  the  Sahara 
Desert,  the  Growth  of  Chicago,  Shipbuilding  at  Glasgow, 
the  Gulf  Stream,  the  Alps,  etc.  We  are  now  beginning  to 
see  clearly  that  these  are  big,  objective  units,  wide-reaching 
in  their  organizing  relations  and  world-extensive  in  their 
typical  qualities.  The  confused  complex  of  geographical 
information  is  cleared  up  and  simplified  by  a  proper  exhibit 
of  these  big  units  of  study. 

In  nature  study  and  applied  science  big  units  or  type 
studies  are  coming  into  vogue,  for  example,  the  respiratory 
system,  the  life   history  of  the  thousand-year  Types  in 
pine,   planning    the   school   and   home   garden,  science 
growth  of  the  corn  plant,  Mt.  Shasta  in  its  growth  and 
decadence,  a  forest  reserve  and  forest  conservation,  the 
history  and  uses  of  the  steam  engine.     Such  topics  have  a 
broad  scope  and  a  world-building  importance. 

In  these  various  fundamental  thought  studies  appropriate 
names  have  come  into  use  which  express  the  outstanding 
importance  of  such  large  units  of  study.  In  „ 

£  .  Terms  used 

literature  the  term   masterpiece  is  applied  to  a  to  express 
story  or  poem.     In  geography  we  speak  of  physio- 
graphic types,  as  a  desert,  or  plateau,  or  river  valley,  or 
glacier.     We  deal  with  striking  phenomena,  as  a  cyclonic 
storm,  or  an  earthquake  or  flood.     In  commercial  geography 
we  describe  big  projects,  such  as  canals  and  railroad  sys- 
tems, or  huge  manufacturing  and  industrial  plants.     In 
history  it  is  the  biography  of  a  great  man,  the  rebuilding  of 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  P  ' 

SA  WTA      t>  A  Tin 


102  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

a  city,  a  military  campaign,  the  founding  of  a  state,  the 
growth  of  an  institution,  or  some  invention  or  far-reaching 
discovery  in  sanitation  that  is  dealt  with.  In  English  studies 
a  theme  for  composition  is  a  basis  for  gathering  and  organiz- 
ing knowledge  materials.  In  all  these  cases  the  mind 
seeks  to  grasp  a  whole,  to  organize  simply  great  masses  of 
knowledge  framed  up  into  big,  dominant  concepts.  This 
is  the  child's  and  the  student's  simple  method  of  escaping 
from  confusion  and  chaos  and  of  building  up  an  orderly 
world. 

An  examination  of  more  recent  textbooks  in  geography 
and  history  proves  that  authors  have  begun  to  grasp  this 
idea  of  large  units  of  study.  Many  recent  texts 
Thetransi-  exhibit  a  tendency  to  select  the  big  topics  and 
small  to  to  give  them  an  enlarged  treatment.  This  is 
has  begun  plainly  a  reaction  against  one  of  the  striking 
faults  of  schoolbooks,  namely,  a  short,  condensed 
treatment  of  many  topics.  Sometimes  a  mere  sentence  or 
short  paragraph  attempts  to  express  the  meaning  of  some 
large  concept  and  that  in  language  so  general  and  abstract 
as  to  be  almost  meaningless.  A  radical  change  has  begun 
and  it  will  hardly  stop  before  the  course  of  study  -and  the 
textbooks  have  been  transformed  in  the  interest  of  an 
enlarged  and  enriched  treatment  of  a  few  main  topics. 

A  good  illustration  of  this  change  toward  greater  respect 

for  big  units  of  study  may  be  cited  in  the  treatment  of  the 

Erie  Canal.     By  comparing  a  succession  of  his- 

Canaimus-     ^-orY  textbooks  published  during  the  last  thirty 


trates  this      years  we  find  either  the  omission  of  this  topic  or 

change 

its  very  brief  treatment  in  the  earlier  books,  and 
in  notable  contrast  to  this  a  gradually  enlarging  discussion 
of  this  subject  in  later  books. 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  103 

Out  of  a  dozen  history  texts  examined,  four  of  the  earlier 
books  made  no  mention  of  the  Erie  Canal.  Evidently 
the  authors  had  not  discovered  that  this  was  an  important 
topic.  One  of  the  earlier  books  has  the  following  state- 
ment:  "1817  Erie  Canal  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  begun." 
Another  text  has  this  statement:  "In  1815  New  York 
began  the  Erie  Canal  which  was  completed  in  1825."  A 
somewhat  fuller  statement  from  a  third  book  runs  as 
follows:  "Public  improvements  —  the  greatest  of  these 
works  then  in  progress  was  the  Erie  Canal  which  connects 
the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  the  Hudson  River  and  the 
grain  fields  of  the  West  with  the  markets  of  Europe.  It 
was  formally  opened  in  October,  1825,  when  the  Governor 
of  New  York  and  many  guests  sailed  from  Buffalo  to  the 
city  of  New  York  in  a  state  barge  attended  by  music  and 
the  roar  of  cannon."  A  fourth  and  later  book  contains 
the  following  account : 

THE  ERIE  CANAL 

"The  Erie  Canal  connecting  the  waters  of  the  Great 
Lakes  with  the  Atlantic  was  completed  in  1825.  The  canal 
passes  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson  at  a  point  near  Al- 
bany. It  was  constructed  by  the  state  of  New  York, 
eight  years  being  required  for  the  work.  The  success  of 
this  great  undertaking  was  mainly  due  to  the  untiring 
efforts  of  Gov.  De  Witt  Clinton. 

"The  canal  brought  N.  Y.  City  in  close  touch  with  the 
West  and  its  benefits  were  immediately  felt.  The  cheapening 
of  freight  rates  made  a  marvelous  increase  in  the  amount  of 
products  exchanged  between  the  East  and  the  West.  The 
canal  became  also  a  popular  route  for  the  emigrant  as  it  was 
an  easier  way  than  the  overland  route  of  reaching  the  West." 


104  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

This  paragraph  brings  out  several  important  results 
from  the  building  of  the  canal  and  furnishes  considerable 
food  for  thought.  A  fifth  book  quoted  gives  the  following  : 

[:  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  ERIE  CANAL,  1825 

"John  Quincy  Adams  was  the  sixth  President  we  elected. 
We  have  seen  that  the  people  living  in  the  eastern  states 
had  a  great  desire  to  open  up  ways  for  reaching  the  country 
west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  The  construction  of 
the  National  Road  did  much  to  help  them  but  the  state  of 
New  York  resolved  to  dig  a  canal  reaching  from  the  Hud- 
son River  to  Lake  Erie. 

11  In  some  ways  this  would  be  far  better  than  a  road, 
because  it  is  always  easier  and  cheaper  to  carry  passengers 
and  freight  by  water  than  by  land. 

"Gangs  of  laborers  began  to  dig  at  Albany.  After  eight 
years  of  hard  work  the  last  shovelful  of  earth  was  thrown 
out,  and  the  long  ditch  was  completed,  1825.  It  ended 
at  Buffalo,  three  hundred  and  sixty  miles  west  of  the  Hud- 
son. The  canal  was  the  greatest  piece  of  work  of  the 
kind  that  had  ever  been  done  in  the  United  States. 

"People  could  now  start  from  New  York  City  by  steam- 
boat, go  to  Albany,  step  on  board  of  a  canal  boat,  and  in 
less  than  a  week  they  would  arrive  at  Buffalo.  That  was 
quick  traveling  for  those  days.  Then,  if  they  liked,  they 
could  take  a  steamboat  on  Lake  Erie  and  go  to  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  or  to  Detroit,  Michigan,  or  even  as  far  west  as  Wis- 
consin —  and  that  was  then  thought  to  be  very  far  west 
indeed. 

"Thousands  of  emigrants  went  west  by  the  canal.  A 
part  of  them  pushed  on  beyond  Buffalo  and  settled  in  the 
states  which  border  on  the  Great  Lakes.  But  many  of 


TENDENCY  TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  105 

them  stopped  at  different  places  in  New  York.  They 
built  up  the  cities  of  Utica,  Syracuse,  Rochester,  and  Buf- 
falo, besides  many  smaller  towns  along  the  banks  of  the 
canal. 

"The  canal  brought  wheat  and  farm  produce  from  the 
West  to  the  East,  and  it  helped  in  many  ways  to  make 
New  York  the  '  Empire  State '  —  that  is,  the  greatest 
state  in  population  and  wealth  in  the  Union." 

This  treatment  is  fuller  and  more  interesting  and  suggests 
a  comparison  with  the  Old  National  Road.  It  takes  a 
much  broader  view  of  the  geographical  and  commercial 
relations  of  the  Erie  Canal,  of  products  shipped,  and  of 
emigration.  It  suggests  a  somewhat  full  geographical  study 
of  the  whole  situation. 

A  still  more  recent  history  textbook  is  quoted  as  fol- 
lows : 

"The  Erie  Canal;  the  Pennsylvania  Canal. — -But 
an  event  of  far  greater  importance  than  the  extension  of 
the  National  Road  was  the  completing  and  opening  of  the 
Erie  Canal  in  1825.  We  learned  (p.  208)  that  the  effect 
of  the  steamboat  navigation  in  the  West  was  to  build  up 
the  Gulf  trade.  The  Ohio  farmer  could  ship  his  grain  by 
water  to  New  Orleans,  and  receive  a  price  sufficient  to  pay 
the  freight  and  still  leave  a  fair  profit;  but  if  he  should 
send  it  by  land  over  the  mountains  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
the  cost  of  transportation  would  be  more,  perhaps,  than 
the  grain  was  worth.  So  it  was  as  natural  for  the  Western 
trade  to  find  its  way  to  the  Gulf  ports  as  it  was  for  water 
to  run  down  hill.  But  the  business  men  of  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  saw  that  they  would  suffer 
great  loss  if  the  Western  trade  were  allowed  to  slip  away 
from  them.  The  National  Road,  to  be  sure,  would  save  to 


106  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

the  East  a  part  of  that  trade ;  but,  at  the  best,  goods  could 
not  be  moved  as  cheaply  on  roads  as  on  rivers.  The  people 
of  the  seaboard,  therefore,  began  to  look  to  artificial  rivers, 
that  is,  canals,  as  a  means  of  securing  the  Western  trade. 

"Canal-building  on  a  large  scale  began  in  1817,  when 
De  Witt  Clinton,  governor  of  New  York,  turned  the  first 
spadeful  of  earth  on  the  Erie  Canal,  which  was  to  extend 
from  Buffalo  to  Albany,  and  to  connect  Lake  Erie  with 
the  Hudson  River.  Clinton  had  persuaded  the  legisla- 
ture of  New  York  to  undertake  the  building  of  the  canal 
at  the  expense  of  the  state.  He  promised  that  the  canal 
would  draw  trade  from  all  the  Great  Lakes  and  their  tribu- 
taries and  from  a  large  part  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  be- 
sides ;  that  this  trade  would  find  its  way  down  the  Hudson 
to  New  York  and  cause  that  city  to  become  a  great  com- 
mercial center ;  that  villages,  towns,  and  cities  would  line 
the  banks  of  the  canal  and  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  from 
Erie  to  New  York ;  that  '  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary 
place  would  become  glad,  and  the  desert  would  rejoice, 
and  blossom  as  the  rose.'  The  work  of  digging  the  'great 
ditch'  was  carried  forward  in  earnest,  and  in  1825  the 
canal  was  completed  and  thrown  open  to  the  public. 

"The  opening  of  the  canal  was  celebrated  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  so  great  an  event.  On  the  26th  of  October  a 
fleet  of  gayly  decorated  boats  left  Buffalo  and  moved  slowly 
eastward  along  the  canal,  '  saluted  by  music,  musketry, 
and  the  cheers  of  the  crowds  along  the  bank.'  On  the 
morning  of  the  4th  of  November  the  procession  of  boats 
reached  the  city  of  New  York.  A  flask  of  water  from  Lake 
Erie  was  poured  into  New  York  Bay  by  Governor  Clinton, 
and  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes  were  declared  to  be  united 
forever  in  marriage  with  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  107 

"The  canal  did  all  that  Clinton  promised  that  it  would 
do  and  even  more.  Before  it  was  built  it  cost  $100  to  carry 
a  ton  of  goods  from  Buffalo  to  New  York  City ;  the  canal 
reduced  the  cost  to  #20.  The  cheap  freight  rates  caused 
trade  to  flow  in  great  volume  toward  the  canal.  Within 
a  year  after  its  opening  the  canal  bore  on  its  quiet  waters 
many  thousands  of  boats  and  rafts  laden  with  lumber, 
grain,  furs,  and  merchandise  of  all  kinds.  Villages  and 
towns  sprang  up  along  the  line  of  the  canal  from  one 
end  to  the  other.  Western  New  York  indeed  'blos- 
somed as  the  rose.'  Utica,  Syracuse,  Rochester,  and 
Buffalo  rapidly  developed  into  flourishing  cities.  But 
the  greatest  thing  done  by  the  Erie  Canal  was  to  build 
up  the  trade  of  New  York  City  and  make  it  the  com- 
mercial center  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere. 

"The  Erie  Canal  was  hardly  finished  before  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  also  began  to  construct  a  system  of  canals 
from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh.  It  was  necessary  to  do 
this  if  Philadelphia  was  to  hold  her  Western  trade.  In 
1826  work  on  the  Pennsylvania  was  begun,  and  nine 
years  later  one  could  travel  by  a  horse-railway  from 
Philadelphia  to  the  town  of  Columbia  on  the  Susque- 
hanna ;  thence  by  a  canal  along  the  Susquehanna  and 
Juniata  to  Hollidaysburg ;  thence  over  the  mountains  by 
a  portage  railway  to  Johnstown ;  and  thence  by  canal  to 
Pittsburgh. 

"Railroads.  —  It  was  necessary  also  for  Baltimore  to 
have  an  easy  route  to  the  West,  but  the  men  of  this  city 
looked  to  the  railroad  rather  than  to  the  canal  as  a  means 
of  communication.  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1828,  the 
venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  who  fifty-two 


108  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

years  before  had  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
laid  the  cornerstone  of  a  railroad  that  was  to  connect  Balti- 
more and  the  Ohio  River." 

This  is  the  fullest  account  we  have  seen  in  our  recent 
histories  and  it  amounts  to  a  fairly  elaborate  discussion 
of  transportation  between  the  Eastern  seaboard  and  the 
great  Western  regions  beyond  the  Alleghenies  and  about 
the  Great  Lakes. 

This  treatment  gives  a  larger  account  of  the  causes  lead- 
ing to  the  construction  of  the  canal,  a  fuller  detail  of  the 
actual  work,  and  a  clearer  statement  of  the  results.  But 
it  goes  beyond  this  and  shows  how  Pennsylvania  worked 
out  a  similar  plan  of  railroads  and  canals  and  how  Balti- 
more built  a  complete  railroad  to  the  West.  jj 

The  above  extracts,  taken  from  six  different  histories, 
show  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  historians  to  seize  upon  an 
important  topic  and  to  enlarge  upon  it  more  and  more. 

The  following  is  suggested  as  a  more  nearly  adequate 
treatment  of  this  topic,  illustrating  the  organization  of 
knowledge  around  such  an  important  center.  The  Erie 
Canal  has  been  so  important  in  the  historical  growth  of 
the  United  States,  while  its  character  as  a  main  traffic 
route  is  so  typical  and  its  relations  to  the  largest  railroad 
lines  so  close,  that  we  deem  it  a  suitable  example  upon  which 
to  illustrate  the  organization  of  knowledge  around  a  central 
idea  on  a  large  scale.  The  following  treatment  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  first  as  a  fuller  description  of  a  single  big  engineering 
project,  and  secondly,  as  a  series  of  comparisons  with  other 
waterways  and  railways  connecting  the  East  and  the 
West,  furnishes  a  complete  illustration  of  a  steady, 
progressive  thought  development  and  of  a  strong  central 
organization  of  a  great  number  of  important  facts  from 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  IOQ 

the  history  and  geography  of  the  United  States.  It  is  a 
good  example  of  what  we  mean  by  the  big  project  or  unit 
of  study. 

THE  ERIE  CANAL 

The  project  of  building  a  canal  to  connect  the  Great 
Lakes  with  the  Hudson  and  New  York  City  was  thought 
of  before  the  Revolution.  But  so  long  as  the  warlike  Iro- 
quois  or  Six  Nations  held  control  of  central  New  York, 
the  building  of  roads  and  canals  across  this  country  was 
out  of  the  question.  General  Sullivan's  army  marched 
into  the  Iroquois  country  during  the  Revolution,  in  1779, 
and  broke  up  the  strong  union  of  the  six  nations  that  for 
two  centuries  had  ruled  central  New  York  and  had  been 
feared  by  all  the  Indian  tribes  far  and  wide. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  then,  white  settlers  were 
free  to  push  into  the  valleys,  lake  regions,  and  forests  of 
central  New  York  as  far  as  Lake  Erie.  Along  the  old 
Indian  trails  from  Albany  to  Lake  Erie  were  now  to  be  laid 
out  the  wagon  roads  and  later  the  canals  which  were  to 
connect  the  East  and  the  West.  Even  before  the  Revo- 
lution bold  settlers  had  flocked  across  the  southern  Alle- 
ghenies  into  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  and  had  taken 
possession  of  those  lands  under  such  leaders  as  Boone  and 
Robertson  and  George  Rogers  Clark.  A  little  later 
pioneers  drifted  into  the  Ohio  country,  and  now  after  the 
Revolution  there  was  a  growing  demand  for  roads  to  con- 
nect the  western  settlements  with  the  older  states  east  of 
the  mountains. 

A  pioneer  road  was  laid  out  through  the  forests  and 
swamps  of  central  New  York  to  Lake  Erie.  The  early 
settlers  of  this  rich  region  soon  had  supplies  of  wheat  and 


110  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

peltries  to  send  East,  that  is  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
and  they  needed  cheap  and  easy  transport.  In  the  spring, 
when  the  rivers  were  flooded,  they  could  send  boatloads 
of  goods  down  the  Susquehanna  to  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more. The  valley  of  the  Mohawk  was  also  used  for  the 
shipment  of  goods  to  New  York,  partly  by  boat  and  partly 
by  wagon.  The  wagon  road  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  was 
a  long  and  tedious  haul  through  woods  and  swamps,  and 
it  cost  about  a  hundred  dollars  to  get  a  ton  of  freight  from 
Buffalo  to  New  York. 

The  project  of  building  a  canal  from  Buffalo  to  Albany 
was  early  suggested.  Gouverneur  Morris  argued  that  as 
Lake  Erie  was  570  feet  higher  than  tidewater  at  Albany, 
it  would  be  possible  to  dig  a  channel  and  convey  a  stream 
of  water  that  would  carry  boats  directly  to  the  Hudson. 
De  Witt  Clinton,  afterward  governor,  was  a  strong  advocate 
of  such  a  canal,  and  he,  with  others,  had  surveys  made  and 
formed  plans.  But  the  undertaking  was  too  difficult 
and  expensive  for  private  individuals. 

Only  a  large  state  like  New  York  could  supply  the  money 
necessary  for  such  an  undertaking.  Finally  De  Witt 
Clinton  presented  the  matter  to  the  legislature  of  New 
York  in  1816.  Some  of  his  arguments  were  as  follows: 
Such  a  canal  would  greatly  cheapen  the  transport  of  goods 
from  Buffalo  to  New  York.  This  would  make  New  York 
City  the  outlet  for  goods  coming  from  the  lakes  and  the 
Ohio  country  as  well  as  from  central  New  York,  and  in 
this  way  it  would  rapidly  grow  into  a  great  city.  Again, 
New  York  State  was  fortunate  in  having  the  only  route 
between  the  East  and  the  West  where  there  were  no  moun- 
tains to  climb,  as  in  Pennsylvania  and  other  states  farther 
south.  It  was  the  only  place  where  a  canal  could  be  built. 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  III 

The  shipment  of  goods  down  Lake  Ontario  and  the  St. 
Lawrence  would  only  injure  New  York  State,  and  besides, 
the  St.  Lawrence  was  blocked  with  ice  during  a  long  winter. 

The  country  through  which  the  canal  would  pass  was  a 
rich  and  fruitful  region,  and  with  a  good  canal  for  ship- 
ment it  would  settle  up  rapidly  and  become  very  prosper- 
ous. The  canal  itself  could  be  easily  supplied  with  water 
from  Lake  Erie,  and  the  boating  along  the  canal  would 
be  much  safer,  being  free  from  the  winds  and  storms  which 
prevail  on  the  lakes  and  on  the  ocean.  A  pair  of  horses 
or  mules  could  haul  a  great  canal  boat  loaded  with  goods 
along  the  canal  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  a  day,  and  that 
would  be  very  cheap  and  rapid  compared  with  any  other 
kind  of  shipping.  After  much  discussion  these  arguments 
won  the  day,  and  the  legislature  voted  to  undertake  the 
construction  of  the  canal  at  state  expense. 

It  was  decided  that  the  canal  was  to  be  dug  along  the 
Mohawk  Valley,  then  across  New  York  north  of  the  Finger 
Lakes,  not  far  south  of  Lake  Ontario,  to  Buffalo.  The 
main  canal  was  to  be  divided  into  three  sections,  the  western 
part  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Seneca  River,  the  middle  from 
the  Seneca  River  to  Rome,  and  the  eastern  section  from 
Rome  to  the  Hudson  at  Albany,  in  all  365  miles.  It  was 
to  be  4  feet  in  depth,  40  feet  wide  at  the  top,  and  20  feet 
wide  at  the  bottom.  The  sloping  sides  were  to  be  walled 
with  stone  to  prevent  washing. 

The  first  contracts  for  digging  were  let  in  the  spring  of 
1817.  The  farmers  along  the  route  had  been  engaged  to 
do  the  work,  at  first  with  spades  and  wheelbarrows,  but 
this  was  too  slow,  so  scrapers  were  invented  to  be  used  with 
teams  and  oxen.  This  made  the  work  go  much  faster. 
Money  was  scarce  among  the  farmers  and  they  were 


112  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

glad  to  engage  in  the  work  to  get  ready  money  for  their 
needs. 

A  number  of  serious  difficulties  hindered  the  progress  of 
the  work.  First  were  the  great  forests,  thick  and  tangled, 
just  west  of  Rome.  Trees  must  be  cut  down  and  stumps 
pulled.  The  ground  was  deeply  matted  with  roots.  A 
stump  puller  was  sent  from  England,  and  a  great  plow  with 
two  yoke  of  oxen  was  used  to  loosen  up  the  roots.  In  some 
places  the  canal  led  through  swamps,  and  hundreds  of  men 
were  sick  with  fever  and  ague.  Thus,  for  a  while,  near  the 
Seneca  River,  the  work  almost  stopped.  Other  stretches 
of  the  canal  had  to  be  quarried  out  through  rock,  and 
this  was  slow  and  laborious. 

Important  rivers  like  the  Genesee  had  to  be  crossed, 
and  this  was  a  serious  problem.  Massive  stone  arches 
were  built  across  the  valleys  and  streams,  and  stone  troughs 
or  aqueducts  were  built  upon  these,  which  formed  part  of 
the  canal.  The  rivers  then  could  pass  under  these  arches 
and  aqueducts. 

The  canal  had  to  be  built  at  several  levels,  on  account 
of  the  hilly  and  sloping  nature  of  the  land  in  places,  and 
had  to  pass  from  one  level  to  another,  say  ten  feet  higher 
or  lower.  At  these  places  stone  locks  must  be  built,  with 
double  gates  at  each  end,  and  constructed  long  enough 
and  wide  enough  to  let  boats  pass  into  them  so  as  to  be 
raised  or  lowered  as  the  water  was  let  in  or  out. 

Work  was  going  on  in  all  these  sections  at  the  same  time. 
As  fast  as  any  considerable  part  of  the  canal  was  completed, 
the  water  was  let  in,  canal  boats  were  built,  and  goods 
shipped.  The  charges  on  these  shipments  or  tolls  counted 
up  rapidly  to  a  large  sum  and  people  began  to  see  that  the 
canal,  when  finished,  would  be  very  profitable. 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  113 

At  last  the  canal  in  all  its  parts  was  completed  in  1825, 
being  365  miles  long,  and  having  seventy-two  locksand  many 
stone  aqueducts.  It  crossed  the  Mohawk  River  twice. 
Its  entire  cost  was  #7,600,000,  a  large  sum  for  those  days. 

Of  course  the  completion  of  the  canal  was  celebrated  in 
Buffalo  and  New  York  and  all  the  towns  and  cities  between. 
As  Governor  Clinton  and  a  party  of  guests  entered  the 
canal  in  boats  to  travel  to  New  York,  a  cannon  was  fired 
off,  and  this  shot  was  followed  by  a  series  of  cannon  dis- 
tributed along  the  whole  route  within  hearing  distance  of 
one  another.  In  this  way  the  news  was  telegraphed  to 
New  York.  All  along  the  route  they  were  received  with 
speeches,  feasts,  and  jollification,  and  at  New  York  two 
kegs  of  water  from  Lake  Erie  were  poured  into  the  New 
York  Bay  to  signify  the  union  of  the  lakes  with  the  ocean. 
It  was  really  a  great  event  in  American  history,  as  the 
products  of  the  West  could  find  easy  transport  to  New  York 
and  to  Europe  by  water.  Settlers  going  West  could  travel 
easily  to  the  states  bordering  the  Great  Lakes. 

Important  results  quickly  followed  the  completion  of 
the  canal.  On  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  1825 
the  cost  of  freighting  a  ton  of  goods  from  Albany  to  Buffalo 
fell  from  #100  to  $6  and  later  to  #3.  The  whole  farming 
country  for  miles  back  on  both  sides  of  the  canal  grew 
quickly  into  a  rich,  productive  region.  All  along  the  canal 
cities  sprang  up  which  in  time  have  grown  into  large  and 
populous  centers  of  manufacturing.  Nearly  all  the  large 
cities  of  New  York  State  are  located  on  or  near  this  canal 
and  the  Hudson.  Smaller  canals  were  built  south  and 
north  of  the  Erie  connecting  it  with  the  lakes  and  greatly 
increasing  the  trade.  The  success  of  the  Erie  Canal  was 
greater  than  even  its  friends  had  expected.  The  tolls  from 


114  TEACHING  BY   PROJECTS 

1825  to  1834  amounted  to  eight  and  a  half  millions,  more 
than  the  original  cost. 

From  the  Ohio  country  and  from  all  the  Great  Lakes 
region,  products  began  to  flow  in  toward  Buffalo  and  along 
the  canal  to  Albany  and  New  York.  The  Eastern  people, 
desiring  to  move  West,  found  it  easy  to  transport  their 
families  and  goods  by  the  canal  and  lakes  to  Cleveland, 
Detroit,  and  Chicago,  and  to  move  out  to  farms  in  Illinois, 
Indiana,  and  Michigan.  Passenger  canal  boats  were  built 
and  much  used. 

From  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal,  New  York  City 
began  to  grow  and  soon  outdistanced  all  other  cities  in 
the  United  States  in  wealth  and  population.  For  some 
thirty  years  this  canal  was  the  chief  highway  of  traffic  for 
heavy  goods  between  the  East  and  the  West.  It  was  also 
the  chief  mode  of  travel  for  people  and  families  going  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West.  During  this  period  the  tolls 
on  the  canal  brought  in  a  large  revenue  to  the  state. 

Cities  like  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  on  the  Eastern 
seaboard,  were  very  anxious  to  share  with  New  York  the 
rich  commerce  of  the  West.  Even  before  the  building  of 
the  Erie  Canal  the  government  of  the  United  States  had 
constructed  the  Old  National  Road  from  Cumberland  on 
the  Potomac,  across  the  mountains  and  through  south- 
western Pennsylvania  to  Wheeling  on  the  Ohio.  This 
road  was  afterward  completed  across  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois  to  St.  Louis,  and  cost  the  government  about  #7,000,- 
ooo,  not  much  less  than  the  Erie  Canal. 

It  was  a  well-built  stone  road  as  far  as  Wheeling,  with 
massive  stone  bridges,  and  to  this  day  it  is  a  good,  solid 
highway.  For  many  years  it  was  thronged  with  wagons 
and  emigrants  and  their  stock  and  goods,  moving  to  the 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  115 

West  into  the  Ohio  Valley.  The  old  hostelries  or  hotels 
along  the  road  are  yet  fine  old  landmarks  of  the  day  when 
Henry  Clay,  Andrew  Jackson,  and  Abraham  Lincoln 
traveled  over  this  road  by  coach  to  Washington. 

Philadelphia  sought  to  reach  the  West  by  still  another 
route.  Canals  were  built  by  the  state  along  the  Susque- 
hanna  and  up  the  Juniata  to  the  edge  of  the  mountain 
ridge  between  Johnstown  and  Altoona.  It  was  intended 
to  carry  the  canal  through  this  mountain  wall  by  a  tunnel. 
Another  canal  on  the  west  side  connected  Johnstown  with 
the  Allegheny  River  and  Pittsburgh.  But  the  tunneling 
of  the  mountain  proved  too  difficult,  and  a  portage  rail- 
road was  built  over  the  mountain  to  connect  the  two  canals, 
at  state  expense.  Another  railroad  was  built  by  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania  from  Philadelphia  to  the  Susquehanna, 
and  thus  Philadelphia  was  connected,  from  tidewater  on 
the  Delaware,  by  combined  railroads  and  canals,  with  the 
Ohio  at  Pittsburgh.  This  became  a  great  route  of  traffic 
between  the  Ohio  country  and  Philadelphia.  It  competed 
with  the  Erie  Canal  for  the  trade  of  the  West. 

During  this  early  period  we  find  three  great  routes 
competing  for  this  Western  trade.  All  of  them  were  very 
important  in  the  development  of  the  West  and  in  bring- 
ing about  an  easier  interchange  of  products  between  the 
East  and  the  West.  Make  a  map  showing  these  three 
routes.  How  did  they  rank  in  importance?  What  cities 
were  connected  by  them? 

Between  1840  and  1850  railroads  were  projected  and 
built  across  the  Alleghenies  to  assist  in  handling  the  im- 
mense traffic  that  was  growing  up  and  to  bring  about  a 
much  quicker  and  cheaper  transit  of  goods  and  persons 
over  long  distances.  It  was  only  gradually  and  slowly 


Il6  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

that  engineers  and  capitalists  learned  how  to  build  and 
manage  railroads.  At  first  they  were  very  crude  and 
clumsy.  Instead  of  engines  they  used  horses  and  mules 
to  draw  cars,  and  there  were  no  cross  ties  connecting  the 
two  rails.  There  were  no  stations  or  freight  houses,  no 
regular  times  for  trains  to  start,  no  headlights,  no  sleeping 
cars,  no  telegraph. 

The  New  York  Central  Railroad,  at  first  built  in  sec- 
tions and  afterwards  combined  into  one  road,  ran  parallel 
to  the  Erie  Canal  between  Albany  and  Buffalo,  and  on 
down  the  Hudson  to  New  York.  When  this  railroad 
connection  was  completed,  goods  and  persons  could  be 
transported  much  more  rapidly,  and  a  large  share  of  the 
trade  was  transferred  to  the  railroad.  But  so  great  was 
the  volume  of  trade  that  both  canal  and  railroad  were 
kept  busy.  Freight  rates  on  the  canal  were  so  much 
cheaper  for  heavy  produce  that  for  grain  and  farm  products 
it  was  much  better  to  use  the  canal.  The  cheap  rates  on 
the  canal  kept  down  the  railroad  freight  rates. 

In  the  early  years  the  canal  was  so  successful  that  peo- 
ple began  talking  of  enlarging  it.  By  making  it  deeper 
and  wider,  larger  canal  boats  could  be  used  and  transport 
would  be  cheaper  still.  In  1835  it  was  decided  to  enlarge 
the  canal,  making  it  seventy  feet  wide  at  the  top  and  seven 
feet  deep,  and  at  the  same  time  larger  double  locks  were 
to  be  constructed.  This  was  a  costly  undertaking  and  its 
working  out  was  not  completed  until  1862.  This  great 
improvement  cost  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  nearly  twice 
the  original  cost  of  the  canal. 

The  competition  between  the  canal  owned  by  the  state 
and  the  railroads  owned  by  private  companies  continued. 
The  New  York  Central  built  double  tracks  across  the 


TENDENCY   TOWARD   LARGE   PROJECTS  Iiy 

state  and  later  increased  them  to  four  tracks,  so  vast  was 
the  volume  of  business  with  the  West.  Other  railroads 
across  New  York  to  Buffalo,  as  the  Lehigh  &  Lackawanna, 
were  also  built,  and  there  was  plenty  of  freight  for  all. 

Finally,  to  enable  the  Erie  Canal  to  compete  with  the 
railroads  for  the  Western  trade,  a  second  and  much  greater 
rebuilding  and  enlargement  of  the  canal  was  talked  about. 
The  great  railroad  systems  must  not  be  allowed  to  gain 
a  monopoly  of  trade  and  fix  freight  rates.  There  was 
a  hot  political  campaign  in  New  York  State  while  Roosevelt 
was  governor,  and  at  the  end  it  was  decided  by  a  large 
majority  of  the  voters  of  the  state  to  spend  one  hundred 
million  dollars  enlarging  the  Erie  Canal.  This  really  meant 
the  building  of  a  new  and  much  larger  canal.  The  course 
of  the  canal  was  considerably  changed,  the  Mohawk  River 
was  to  be  deepened  and  canalized  and  pools  formed  by 
means  of  locks.  The  canal  is  125  feet  wide  at  the  top, 
12  feet  in  depth,  and  is  able  to  float  barges  carrying 
1,000  tons  of  freight.  Great  locks  are  built,  large  enough 
to  pass  two  of  these  barges  at  once.  This  improvement 
makes  the  Erie  Canal  one  of  the  greatest  canals  in  the 
world  and  not  only  furnishes  a  cheap  transport  of  Western 
products  by  water  to  the  seaboard,  but  will  compel  the 
railroads  to  keep  their  rates  low. 

A  comparison  of  canal  building  and  railroad  construction 
across  the  state  of  New  York,  from  New  York  City  via 
Albany,  Syracuse,  and  Rochester  to  Buffalo,  with  the  canals 
and  railways  from  Philadelphia  via  Harrisburg  and  Altoona 
to  Pittsburgh  will  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  people  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  have  spent  vast  sums  of 
money  in  first  constructing  and  in  later  developing  these 
important  traffic  routes  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Great 


Il8  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

Lakes  on  one  side  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard  "cities  on  the 
other. 

During  this  early  period,  also,  the  people  of  Maryland 
undertook  one  of  the  first  great  railroad  projects  in  build- 
ing the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  from  Baltimore  to 
Wheeling,  and  later  to  Cincinnati.  A  canal  was  also 
constructed  along  the  Potomac  from  Washington  to  the 
mountain  ridge.  At  a  later  time  the  people  of  Virginia 
secured  a  railroad  from  Norfolk  through  Richmond  across 
the  mountains  to  Charleston,  West  Virginia,  and  Cincinnati. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts  were  as  anxious  as  those  of 
other  states  to  secure  a  full  share  in  the  rich  traffic  of  the 
West.  They  early  surveyed  the  route  from  Boston  to 
Albany  for  a  canal  and  at  state  expense  undertook  the 
digging  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  five  miles  in  length,  through 
the  high  mountain  ridge  which  stretches  across  western 
Massachusetts.  The  canal  was  afterward  given  up  in 
favor  of  the  Fitchburg  Railway  which  passes  through  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel  to  Albany.  The  Hoosac  Tunnel  cost  the 
state  seven  million  dollars,  nearly  as  much  as  the  Erie 
Canal. 

The  people  of  Canada  were  sorry  to  see  the  traffic  of 
the  Great  Lakes  region  turned  down  the  Hudson  by  the 
Erie  Canal.  In  order  to  secure  their  share  of  the  lake  traffic 
the  Canadians  built  the  Welland  Canal  from  Lake  Erie 
across  the  peninsula  to  Lake  Ontario,  at  a  cost  of  fifteen 
million  dollars.  This  canal  enabled  vessels  to  pass  from 
the  lower  St.  Lawrence  to  the  upper  lakes  around  Niagara 
Falls.  It  was  also  necessary  to  build  a  canal  and  locks 
just  above  Montreal  to  allow  vessels  to  pass  around  the 
long  rapids  in  the  St.  Lawrence. 

All   the  way   from   Canada   to  Virginia   the  people  of 


TENDENCY    TOWARD    LARGE    PROJECTS  1 19 

America  were  alike  interested  in  one  problem.  All  these 
big,  expensive  schemes  of  canal  and  road  building  were 
efforts  to  solve  the  problem  of  cheap  transport  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Ohio 
and  of  the  Great  Lakes  with  tidewater  and  with  Europe. 
The  rich  products  of  the  western  plains  must  be  gotten  to 
market  and  the  manufactures  of  the  Eastern  cities  and  of 
Europe  must  be  carried  to  the  rich  country  beyond  the 
Alleghenies. 

The  great  success  of  the  Erie  Canal  suggested  similar 
undertakings  connecting  the  rivers  and  lakes  of  the  West. 
In  1848  the  Illinois-Michigan  Canal  was  completed,  con- 
necting Lake  Michigan  with  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi 
rivers,  and  serving  as  a  means  of  carrying  on  a  large 
traffic.  Several  canals  were  built  across  Ohio  and  Indiana 
connecting  the  Ohio  River  with  Lake  Erie. 

In  recent  years  a  project  for  a  deep  water  route  by  way 
of  the  Chicago  Drainage  Canal  and  the  Illinois  River  to 
St.  Louis  and  the  Gulf  has  been  seriously  proposed.  The 
deepening  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  from  St.  Paul,  of  the 
Ohio  from  Pittsburgh,  and  of  the  Missouri  from  Omaha 
has  been  proposed  as  a  part  of  this  great  system  of  deep 
water  navigation.  The  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal 
has  opened  up  a  prospect  for  turning  the  commerce  of  the 
West  down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans  and  thence  by 
way  of  the  Panama  Canal  to  distribute  it  to  the  countries 
surrounding  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  Panama  Canal  seems,  in  a  sense,  a  means  of  compet- 
ing with  the  Erie  Canal  for  the  traffic  and  products  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  The  products  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  would  naturally  flow  southward  to  find  their  outlet 
to  the  world.  In  the  early  pioneer  days  before  roads 


120  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

were  constructed  across  the  Alleghenies,  these  products 
were  sent  down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans.  The 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  is  now  again  carrying  on  a  large 
traffic  between  the  North  and  the  South,  and  other  impor- 
tant roads  have  developed  a  similar  trade.  The  future  is 
likely  to  see  a  great  increase  in  the  North  and  South  traffic 
in  staple  products.  The  fruits,  vegetables,  rice,  cotton, 
and  sugar  of  the  South  will  move  northward  and  the  grains, 
meats,  and  machinery  of  the  North  will  move  southward. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  following   conclusions  may   be   drawn   reasonably 
from  the  foregoing  illustrations  and  discussions : 

1.  There  is  a  strong  and  growing  tendency  to  select  and 
develop  large  teaching  units,  as  illustrated  by  big  projects 
or  type  studies. 

2.  The  more  important  the  unit  of  study  the  stronger 
is  the  impulse  to  expand  it  to  a  full  and  adequate  treat- 
ment. 

3.  These  large,  well-organized  knowledge-units  become 
first-class  teaching  projects  and  give  a  sound  basis  for 
complete  class  instruction. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SIMPLIFYING  STUDIES  ON  THE  BASIS  OF  LARGE 
PROJECTS 

How  to  get  at  the  simple  basis  of  knowledge,  how  to 
master  its  main  elements  without  waste  and  confusion,  is 
surely  a  vital  question.  We  wish  to  discover  a  sound  basis 
for  simplification  of  studies.  The  simplicity  of  knowledge 
seems  to  come  into  view  in  its  big,  central  ideas  and  projects. 
The  key  to  the  situation  may  be  had  if  we  can  find  the  strate- 
gic centers  in  school  studies.  The  projects  discussed  in 
Chapter  I  are  large,  important  units  of  study.  As  such 
they  are  a  good  substitute  for  our  present  miscellaneous 
collections  of  knowledge  and  are  the  chief  basis  for  reor- 
ganizing our  plans  of  instruction  in  the  interest  of  sim- 
plicity. 

The  increasing  number  and  complexity  of  studies  in 
the  curriculum  have  had  a  more  or  less  confusing  effect. 
We  have  been  adding  new  studies  and  changing 

'    The  present 

old  courses  at  such  a  rate  as  to  throw  the  ma-  confusion  in 
chinery  of  instruction  into  disorder.  There  is  s 
too  much  crowding  and  congestion  in  the  knowledge  pro- 
gram. Learning  as  displayed  in  the  various  studies  is 
also  dribbled  out  too  much  in  small  bits  and  fragments. 
Facts  and  ideas  that  ought  to  fit  together  and  combine 
into  larger  units  fall  into  broken  and  disconnected  parts. 
Such  scattered  items  and  fragments  of  information  are 
disappointing  because  of  their  failure  to  give  the  larger 


122  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

surveys  of  knowledge  and  the  deeper  insight  into  important 
subjects,  the  real  simplicity  of  knowledge. 

The  school  program  should  require  a  small  number  of 

big  units  well  organized  rather  than  a  large  number  of 

small    topics    scattered    and    disconnected.     A 

assembling    clear  setting  forth  of  the  strong,  developing  fea- 

and  organiz-  tures  of  one  fag  cjty  ^e  NGW  York,  in  its  local 

ing  facts 

and  world  relations,  followed  by  detailed  com- 
parisons with  other  leading  cities,  is  more  instructive  than 
the  mere  names  and  location  of  hundreds  of  towns  and 
cities  scattered  through  forty-eight  different  states.  It  is 
needful  thus  to  focus  attention  upon  the  conspicuous 
centers  where  facts  and  forces  group  and  organize  them- 
selves and  display  their  influence  in  a  simple,  almost  spec- 
tacular way.  Mere  facts  in  any  study,  not  grouped  and 
related  to  any  strong,  replete  center  of  thought,  are  well- 
nigh  meaningless  and  worthless.  They  should  be  left  in 
the  junk  heap  and  not  imposed  upon  children  as  knowl- 
edge. The  ragpicker  and  garbage  collector  have  a  true 
function,  not  so  the  student  who  is  collecting  odds  and 
ends  which,  as  unrelated  fragments,  lead  to  no  important 
conclusions. 

Our  schools  have  been  forced  into  this  small  business  of 
dealing  with  numerous  fragments  and  disconnected  facts 

by  a  somewhat  rapid  and  disorderly  accumula- 
The  simple  ^ jon  of  studies  and  by  compressing  a  great  variety 
knowledge  of  knowledge  into  a  small  space.  Our  recent  cur- 
sighTof  riculum  has  been  deluged  by  a  varied  mixture 

of  unordered  materials.  Both  teachers  and  chil- 
dren have  been  thrown  into  such  a  mess  of  knowledges 
that  we  have  almost  lost  the  notion  that  there  is  any 
simple  principle  of  organization. 


A   BASIS   FOR   SIMPLIFYING   STUDIES  123 

The  child  is  out  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  and  explora- 
tion in  a  universe  of  new  things.     He  has  some  eight  years 
(from  six  to  fourteen)   to  circumnavigate  this 
earth  and  to  return  home  laden  with  world  ex-  knowledge 
perience.     The   seemingly   detached   and   scat-  ah°Peless 
tered  facts  surrounding  a  child  are  infinite  in 
number  and  variety.     If  education  consists  in  memorizing 
as  many  as  possible  of  these  mere  bits  and  parcels  the  child 
has  a  tedious  and  hopeless  task.     He  is  going  into  a  laby- 
rinth from  which  he  will  never  emerge  into  daylight.    The 
fundamental,  the   simple,  is  above   all   things   necessary. 
The  field  of  knowledge,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  vast  and  limit- 
less.    Quantitatively  measured  the  amount  of  information 
gathered  by  any  child  must  be  extremely  small,  a  mere 
fragment  of  the  whole.     It  is  therefore  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance that  we  be  highly  selective  in  the  few  important 
things  we  require  of  children.     Only  the  best,  the  most 
necessary  and  typical,  should  be  thought  of. 

We  take  it  for  granted  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  education 
to  let  the  child  into  the  secret  of  the  world  system,  to  give 
him  a  prompt  and  far-reaching  interpretation  of 
the  orderly  world,  to  make  big  discoveries  and  children 
to  make  them  rapidly.     He  has  no  time  to  waste  mto  the 

secret 

in  learning  naked,  lonesome,  meaningless  facts. 
He  should  travel  a  road  that  leads  to  important  places, 
to  real  knowledge  of  the  few  essentials.  The  child  has 
a  right  to  know  this  world  and  to  understand  it.  It  is  a 
new,  complex,  bewildering  world  and  if  he  gets  muddled  and 
discouraged  in  his  approaches  to  it,  confusion  becomes  worse 
confounded.  We  are  guiding  the  children  in  the  search  for 
these  simple  approaches  to  world  knowledge,  hoping  to 
reach  and  travel  with  them  the  main  highways  of  thought. 


124  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

The  child,  too,  has  in  his  brain  a  machinery  of  thought 
with  which  to  make  these  discoveries.  But  his  own  ma- 
chinery for  thinking  is  as  strange  and  new  to  him  as  are 
the  objects  of  the  outside  world.  He  is  new  to  himself 
and  needs  a  guide  to  show  him  how  to  use  his  powers. 
The  world  at  bottom  is  simple  and  the  child,  if  rightly 
guided,  has  the  mental  power  to  grasp  this  simple  world 
structure.  It  is  the  business  of  teachers  to  find  in  the 
important  studies  the  few  main  centers  or  avenues  of 
thought  and  to  set  them  forth  in  simple,  objective  illus- 
tration which  a  child  can  understand. 

To  make  a  proper  acquaintance  with  the  world,  then, 

the  child  should  not  be  required  to  wander  through  an 

infinite  network  of  roadways  and  bypaths,  but 

A  few  simple 

ideas  rule  should  be  guided  wisely  along  a  few  main  high- 
ways so  as  to  get  the  general  topography  and  the 
striking,  important  features  of  the  landscape.  Neither  a 
jumbled  collection  of  small  topics  nor  a  disjointed  multi- 
tude of  important  facts  will  satisfy  a  child's  necessities  in 
the  way  of  knowledge.  He  should  be  led  to  find  the  few 
strategic  centers  of  knowledge  by  the  full  and  prompt  mas- 
tery of  which  he  will  soon  be  able  to  discern,  to  organize, 
and  to  control  his  world.  The  child  should  be  allowed  to 
discover  that  a  few  big,  simple  ideas  rule  the  world.  As 
the  rising  sun  illumines  the  earth,  so  a  great  idea  sheds 
light  and  meaning  far  and  wide.  The  life  history  of  an 
oak  tree  from  the  acorn  to  maturity  can  be  readily  grasped 
in  its  essential  features  by  a  child,  and  with  this  as  a  basis 
he  can  soon  interpret  the  life  of  many  kinds  of  trees  and 
of  great  forests.  A  locomotive  engine  is  an  elaborate 
combination  of  mechanical  elements  and  shrewd  invention, 
but  the  expansive  power  of  steam  applied  in  the  case  of  a 


A   BASIS   FOR    SIMPLIFYING    STUDIES  12$ 

simple  boiler  and  steam  chest  can  be  easily  demonstrated. 
Yet  upon  this  one  idea  is  based  largely  the  growth  of  our 
vast  railroad  system  and  steam  navigation.  Even  the 
complexities  of  social  and  institutional  life  yield  to  simple 
interpretations.  The  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan  sets 
forth  clearly  a  principle  of  conduct  which,  once  applied, 
as  it  ought  to  be,  would  improve  conditions  of  human  life 
throughout  the  world.  As  a  whole,  human  society  is  a 
complex  organization,  but  the  ideas  that  should  control 
and  organize  it  are  simple  and  easily  intelligible  to  a  frank, 
unprejudiced  mind. 

From  these  and  other  illustrations  we  might  conclude 
that  a  few  ideas  concretely  and  amply  demonstrated  to 
a  child  would  go  a  long  way  toward  explaining  the  world, 
would  at  least  put  him  on  the  track  of  discovering  and  inter- 
preting the  larger  forces  that  govern  and  organize  his  own 
life  and  the  life  about  him.  Such  studies  should  give  a 
child  first,  broad  surveys  of  extensive  knowledge  areas  and, 
secondly,  a  deepening  and  enriching  insight  into  the  mean- 
ings which  lie  back  of  the  endless  objects  and  activities 
observed. 

Just  as  a  few  large  rivers  drain  the  continents,  so  a  few 
channels  of  thought  drain  out  the  meaning  of  whole  studies. 
If  we  could  rind  a  few  trunk  lines  of  developing  thought  in 
each  school  study  and  then  organize  and  master  knowledge 
on  this  basis,  we  might  greatly  simplify  and  enrich  the 
processes  of  learning.  As  instructors  we  should  direct 
our  attention  very  sharply  to  this  peculiar  quality  and 
tendency  in  knowledge,  namely,  to  get  itself  strongly  and 
intensely  organized  at  a  few  centers  and  to  run  deep  and 
strong  in  a  few  main  channels.  These  large  teaching  units, 
objectively  demonstrated  in  each  study,  are  the  true  high- 


126  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

ways  of  knowledge  for  children.  This  is  a  simple,  demo- 
cratic view  of  education  which  strips  it  of  its  complexity 
and  puts  it  within  reach  of  every  child. 

Knowledge,    like    wise   military    tactics,    has 

The  nature 

ofknowl-  strategic  centers  where  it  is  strongly  organized 
eestedUg~  anc^  Decomes  powerful  for  offense  or  defense.  If 

through  we  desire  to  understand  complex  military  opera- 
analogies  .  n 

tions  we  study  out  the  influence  of  one  or  more 

of  these  strategic  centers. 

Knowledge,  like  the  trunk  line  of  a  railway  system,  draws 
all  goods  and  travel  into  this  central  traffic  movement. 
If  we  seek  to  master  the  extensive  commerce  of  a  great 
country,  we  study  one  of  its  central  traffic  routes  and 
compare  it  with  others. 

Knowledge,  like  a  tree,  organizes  its  life  forces  and  builds 
up  its  structure  around  a  central  axis  of  growth.  If  we 
wish  to  understand  tree  life  and  the  meaning  of  forestry, 
we  study  carefully  the  life  history  and  growth  of  one  great 
forest  tree  in  its  relation  to  other  trees,  to  soil  and  surround- 
ings, and  to  man. 

Knowledge  is  like  a  machine  in  operation.  It  works  out 
a  process  looking  toward  a  definite,  desired  result.  A  loom 
is  a  machine  built  and  adapted  in  all  its  parts  to  carry  on  the 
process  of  weaving  cloth.  Study  out  the  parts  of  this  one 
machine  and  see  how  they  cooperate  to  produce  cloth  by  the 
act  of  weaving  and  we  shall  understand  the  basal  principle 
of  weaving  and  of  all  textile  industries  the  world  over. 

Knowledge,  like  a  power  plant  at  Niagara,  produces  and 
brings  under  control  a  thought  energy  which  can  be  turned 
to  account  in  many  fields  of  experience.  Study  out  and 
completely  understand  the  Niagara  power  plant  and  on  that 
basis  we  can  judge  the  value  of  water  powers  along  the 


A   BASIS   FOR   SIMPLIFYING   STUDIES  127 

mountain  streams  and  big  rivers  throughout  our  whole 
country,  and  later  in  other  countries.  This  is  one  of 
the  big  conceptions  that  is  organizing  modern  industry, 
working  along  the  line  of  scientific  knowledge. 

Knowledge,  like  any  well-thought-out  human  project  in 
industry  or  government,  has  in  it  a  controlling,  organizing 
idea,  working  out  a  rational  whole,  for  example,  a  transat- 
lantic cable,  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  a  city  waterworks, 
the  Suez  Canal,  the  flour  mills  at  Minneapolis.  On  this 
basis  our  modern  industries  and  human  occupations  are 
now  organized  and  rationalized  as  big  knowledge  units, 
as  complex  thought  wholes.  It  requires  comprehensive 
brains  nowadays  to  organize  and  manage  big  business, 
because  such  a  business  enterprise  is  a  large,  organized, 
objective  unit  of  thought.  If  the  schoolmaster  wishes 
to  find  out  and  train  himself  in  great,  simple  thought 
processes,  let  him  study  the  important,  well-organized 
industrial  projects.  Nowhere  else  will  he  find  such  close 
practical  adjustment  of  great  thought  processes,  to  neces- 
sary life  conditions,  as  in  the  human  occupations.  No- 
where else  will  he  find  better  compacted  and  organized 
thought  units.  They  are  big,  objective  demonstrations 
of  man's  power  to  think  and  to  organize  the  materials  of 
thought  in  relation  to  human  needs.  They  are  important 
projects  which  serve  as  good  object  lessons  for  children's 
full  and  careful  study. 

In  other  words,  whenever  we  study  properly  any  impor- 
tant new  subject,  the  elements  of  knowledge,  the  facts, 
are  in  the  process  of  grouping  themselves  into  a  , 

How  facts 

larger  unit,  often  into  an  objective  whole,  as,  a  grow  into 
factory,  a  railroad,  a  military  campaign,  a  mas-  * 
terpiece  of  literature.     The  facts,  until  they  get  themselves 


128  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

organized  into  these  large  groups  or  central  units,  have 
little  or  no  meaning,  are  not  knowledge  properly  speaking. 
Facts  in  order  to  become  knowledge  must  get  into  some 
organization,  into  some  rational  whole,  and  this  in  turn 
may  be  a  vantage  ground  for  interpreting  other  similar 
wholes  in  still  larger  groups  and  in  whole  series. 

Thus  facts  and  so-called  materials  of  knowledge  do  not 

seem  to  find  any  good  stopping  place  until  they  develop 

into   a  consistent  whole,   and   find   themselves 

learning  is     brought  together  by  some  principle  of  unity. 


growth  and    'pjjg  purposive  process  by  which  the  facts  have 

organization 

come  together  develops  them  into  an  organic 
unit.  As  learners,  until  we  reach  this  point  where  organi- 
zation sets  in,  we  are  in  helpless  confusion.  We  cannot 
see  the  woods  for  the  trees.  The  teacher,  of  course,  ought 
to  see  the  end  from  the  beginning.  This  big,  organizing 
unit  of  thought  has  already  worked  out  its  full  course  in 
his  mind  in  its  essential  order.  Otherwise  he  is  but  a 
blind  leader.  Learning  is  the  process  of  thinking  out  these 
large  units  or  projects  in  their  natural  growth  and 
organization. 

The  teacher  should  keep  this  central  unit  of  thought, 
this  purpose,  like  a  pole  star,  clearly  in  view  or  else  he,  too, 
may  become  a  wanderer  among  dead  facts,  surrounded 
with  graveyard  knowledge.  He  may  be  merely  reading 
tombstone  inscriptions.  The  children  require  wise  guides 
to  keep  them  headed  toward  the  main  centers,  these  beck- 
oning and  summoning  peaks  of  knowledge.  Like  Bunyan, 
they  should  keep  the  Delectable  Mountains  plainly  in 
sight. 

At  the  end  of  every  important  series  of  lessons  the  chil- 
dren should  come  out  into  a  broad  place  with  an  open  view. 


A   BASIS   FOR   SIMPLIFYING   STUDIES  1  29 

This  brings  a  regrouping  of  abundant  facts  and  experiences 
into  a  new  and  important  conception,  a  fresh  and  valu- 
able interpretation  of  the  world  from  a  better 
standpoint.     Until  they  reach  this  point  where  rounded 


knowledge   has   organized   itself   into    a    well- 

knowledge 

rounded  unit  of   study  fully  mastered   by  the 
children,  they  stop  short  of  any  true  accomplishment.     No 
amount  of  memory  drills  on  stark  facts  is  a  substitute  for 
knowledge.     In  such  case  our  house  is  still  only  half  built, 
our  bread  is  only  half  baked. 

On  the  basis  of  the  previous  discussion  we  may  get  rid 
of  a  false  notion  as  to  what  knowledge  is.     A  collection  of 

miscellaneous  facts  about  a  subject  is  of  such   , 

A  false  con- 

inferior  grade  from  the  standpoint  of  true  knowl-  ception  of 
edge  that  we  are  willing  to  discard  it.  Passing 
an  examination  on  these  facts  with  a  high  grade  is  not  a 
proof  of  scholarship.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  a  person 
may  have  an  extensive  memory  of  facts  in  geography, 
science,  or  history  with  little  perception  of  meanings, 
relations,  and  values,  combined  with  small  power  of  inter- 
pretation or  use.  In  the  schools  to-day  there  is  more  or 
less  predominance  of  this  superficial  —  what  might  per- 
haps be  better  called  false  —  knowledge.  Our  whole 
course  of  study  is  much  cumbered  with  miscellaneous, 
ill-assorted  facts  and  formula?  which  have  not  yet  emerged 
into  knowledge.  There  is  too  much  straggling  informa- 
tion or  misinformation.  A  whole  army  of  stragglers  isn't 
worth  much.  Teachers  are  still  much  under  the  dominance 
of  the  fact-cramming,  storage  theory  of  knowledge.  They 
are  not  yet  convinced  of  the  organizing  quality  and  strength 
of  important,  controlling,  purposive  ideas.  Among  teach- 
ers generally  there  is  a  lack  of  perspective  with  regard  to 


130  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

big  things  versus  little  things.  They  are  not  yet  clear  as 
to  what  the  real,  purposeful  centers  of  thought  are, 
around  which  the  facts  may  best  be  organized. 

The  vital  element  of  knowledge  in  a  big  unit  lies  in  its 
principle  of  growth  and  organization,  not  in  the  facts  as 
such.  The  incorporation  of  facts  into  a  growing  project 
like  the  building  of  a  railway,  or  the  lay-out  and  construc- 
tion of  a  city  water  system  in  New  York,  for  example, 
brings  these  facts  together  into  their  proper  relations, 
and  absorbs  them  into  an  energetic,  forward,  practical 
thought-movement.  This  leads  on  to  the  solution  of  an 
important  problem  vitally  related  to  city  and  state.  The 
energizing  principle  of  growth  and  organization  toward 
some  desired  and  much-needed  end  should  carry  forward 
the  thinking  processes  of  children  in  every  topic  to  a  well- 
matured  result.  This  formative,  creative  idea  is  also  the 
working  principle  that  constructs  a  good  story  like  the 
King  of  the  Golden  River,  or  Dickens 's  Christmas  Carol, 
or  a  poem  like  Horatius  at  the  Bridge.  The  thought 
energy  is  pushing  forward  and  must  have  a  chance  to  real- 
ize its  purpose.  The  dynamic  quality  that  organizes  and 
develops  a  big  teaching  unit  must  be  in  evidence  or  else 
the  distinctive  quality  that  characterizes  true  knowledge  is 
absent.  The  salt  has  lost  its  savor.  When  a  topic  has  been 
thus  denatured,  it  should  be  banished  from  the  school. 

Each  project  or  unit  of  study  as  it  grows  and  organizes 

the  materials  essential  to  it,  when  it  has  once  developed 

into  an  energetic  thought  movement  and  has 

pieteuntt"      brought  a  new  and  valuable  interpretation  to 

only  a  be-      ^ear  UpOn  the  world,  has  just  barely  begun  its 

ginning 

useful  career.     It  has  become  in  the  child's  mind 
a  life  center  around  which  other  kindred  subjects  in  the 


A   BASIS   FOR   SIMPLIFYING   STUDIES  131 

future  will  group  and  organize  themselves  in  a  still  larger 
expansion  of  knowledge,  because  it  is  based  upon  a  con- 
structive idea  which  produces  similar  effects  under  a  variety 
of  conditions. 

We  sometimes  call  one  of  these  completed  units  of  study 
or  strategic  centers  in  knowledge  a  type,  because  it  has  a 
marked  and  characteristic  quality  which  seems 

,  .  The  type 

permanent   and  reappears  on  many  occasions  combines 
and  in  many  other  big  topics.     Moreover  we  are  st.abmty 

.          .  with  growth 

pleased  to  find  a  few  things  in  the  world  that  are 
typical,  that  are  more  stable  and  permanent,  not  subject 
to  the  prevailing  law  of  change.  The  type  fixes  a  perma- 
nent quality  in  a  whole  series  of  shifting,  changing  topics. 
We  are  tempted  even  to  give  fixity  to  ideas  as  types,  as 
if  they  had  set  like  a  chunk  of  cement  into  a  rigid  form  and 
had  become  a  fixed  pattern.  But  knowledge,  in  the  quality 
of  ideas,  resents  this  sort  of  stiffness  and  cramping  limita- 
tion. If  ideas  can  be  called  types,  they  are  variable.  They 
are  types  of  growth  and  progress.  An  idea  is  a  growing, 
organizing  principle.  When  it  ceases  to  grow  it  ceases  to 
be.  Variation  under  the  type  is  the  law  of  growth. 

And  yet  the  notion  of  types  in  knowledge  will  properly 
assert  itself  and  claim  serious  consideration.     Indeed  the 
type  serves  an  important  purpose.     Nature  has 
at  least  a  few  great  patterns  on  which  she  con-  simplifies 
structs  her  life  forms  and  develops  the  life  pro- 
cesses, e.g.  the  vertebrate  structure  in  animals,  the  endogens 
and  exogens  among  trees.     The  study  of  type  forms  among 
vertebrates  lays  the  basis  for  a  quick  understanding  of 
innumerable  kindred  forms  in  later  studies.     We  are  com- 
pelled to  admit  that  a  standard  ear  of  corn  is  a  nearly  per- 
fect type  of  millions  of  ears ;    that  an  average  white  pine, 


132  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

in  life  history,  structure,  and  function,  is  a  good  type  of 
white  pines  in  general,  and  in  varying  degrees,  of  all  pine 
trees,  and  in  a  less  degree  of  all  trees  and  vegetable  growths. 
In  the  same  way  the  cecropia  moth  in  its  metamorphosis 
is  a  type  of  moths  and  of  insects.  New  York  harbor  is 
a  type  of  large  harbors ;  Mt.  Shasta  of  volcanoes ;  Webster 
of  statesmen.  If  a  child  is  to  get  an  appreciation  of  world 
order  and  system,  so  as  to  adjust  himself  to  his  surround- 
ings, the  elaborate  study  of  a  few  fundamental,  growing 
types  is  the  shortest  and  best  road  to  this  end.  It  results 
in  a  marvelous  simplification  of  a  seemingly  complex  world. 
It  is  true  that  the  predominance  of  types  everywhere  in 
evidence  in  the  world  lends  something  of  monotony  to  the 
forest  of  pines,  to  the  wheatfield,  to  the  dress 
dominates  and  customs  of  people.  Nature  repeats  her 

the  past  and  forms  wjth  slight  variations  in  countless  millions 
the  future  .  .  c 

of  individuals,  and  the  mastery  of  a  few  of  these 

leading  types  in  their  origin,  growth,  and  relations  is  far- 
reaching  in  its  power  of  interpretation.  When  an  impor- 
tant unit  of  study  has  been  fully  demonstrated  as  a  good 
type  of  thousands  or  millions  of  similar  objects  or  phenom- 
ena in  the  world,  it  not  only  explains  many  similar  things 
in  the  present,  but  it  becomes  the  basis  for  a  continuous 
expansion  and  enrichment  of  the  fundamental  idea  in  the 
type  for  future  uses.  This  same  idea  is  at  work  in  the 
world  on  a  grand  scale,  under  changing  conditions,  produc- 
ing kindred  results.  To  go  on  following  and  interpreting 
this  idea  in  its  new  surroundings  and  in  conjunction  with 
other  forces  in  the  world  will  develop  an  alert  and  versatile 
mind.  Education  should  see  to  it  that  a  child  first 
thoroughly  gets  these  basal  ideas,  and  secondly,  that  he  is 
kept  busy  turning  them  to  account  in  new  situations. 


A   BASIS   FOR   SIMPLIFYING   STUDIES  133 

The  child's  experience  should  grow  on  and  on  in  richness 
along  each  typical  highway  of  thought. 

The  school  can  afford  the  time  and  effort  required  to 
teach  a  few  great,  simple  lessons  thoroughly,  richly,  copi- 
ously.    It  may  well  exhaust  its  amplest  resources 
in  concreting,  expanding,  and  applying  a  very  A  sjftins 
few  primary  types  of  human  behavior,  of  social  tm  we  find 
and  industrial  activity,  and  of  natural  phenom-  Lpesas 
ena.     Among    teachers    the  wisest    should  set 
themselves  to  the  task  of  selecting  among  big  things  the 
most  important,  among  superior  types  the  more  highly 
significant  and  far-reaching.    Then  from  those  superior 
topics,  by  a  sifting  process,  they  should  reselect  and  choose 
again   the  better  half.     We  are  then  prepared  to  gather 
together  and  concentrate  upon  these  focal  units  those  rich 
knowledge  resources  which  will  intensify  the  organizing 
ideas  in  these  topics.    The  best  is  good  enough  for  chil- 
dren.    But  the  best  is  never  at  its  best  until  it  is  framed 
up  in  its  full  natural  environment  and  life  relation,  until  it 
is  given  an  objective,  artistic  setting.     Here  is  the  problem 
of  the  teacher. 

This  is  another  way  of  saying  that  knowledge  is  simple, 
continuous,  and  consistent  throughout;  that  the  ideas 
we  start  with  in  the  early  education  of  children  „ 

J  The  sim- 

are  the    selfsame    ideas,   naturally    developed,  piitity  of 

which  we  shall  come  out  with  at  the  end  of  our  * 
school  course.  They  are  so  simple  and  far-reaching  that 
they  continue  to  grow  to  the  end  of  life  and  dominate  its 
results.  Education  itself  is  a  life  process,  a  continuous 
growth  and  expansion  along  a  few  basal  lines  of  thought 
throughout  the  whole  life  period.  It  is  dynamic  in  its 
forward,  constructive,  organizing  movement. 


134  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

This  process  of  simplifying  knowledge  through  organi- 
zation along  a  few  main  channels  of  thought  provides  also 
for  that  ample  enrichment  of  every  big  topic  which  gives 
it  the  complete,  wholesome  effect  of  real  knowledge.  The 
intensive  enrichment  of  main  topics  is  the  subject  of  our 
next  chapter. 

Our  conclusion  is  that  we  should  get  rid  of  the  static 
conception  of  knowledge,  that  we  should  throw  overboard 
ill-assorted,  miscellaneous  collections  of  facts,  and  that  we 
should  focus  attention  upon  those  ideas  and  projects  which 
are  strongly  purposive  and  far-reaching  in  their  scope  and 
influence.  Then  we  shall  be  surprised  at  the  marvelous 
simplicity  that  comes  from  a  clear  insight  into  a  few  basal 
things,  that  is,  from  the  proper  organization  of  knowledge 
around  growing  life  centers. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  ENRICHMENT  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  THE    INTEN- 
SIVE TREATMENT  OF  LARGE   UNITS 

ONE  of  the  main  problems  of  modern  education  is  how  to 
make  profitable  use  of  the  large  increase  of  knowledge 
that  has  deluged  our  curriculum  with  the  influx 
of  new  studies.     To  what  extent  do  these  proj-  Ho^ to 

make  use 

ects  as  large  teaching  units  give  adequate  ex-  of  the  richer 
pression  to  this  greatly  increased  content  of  ele-  studies  ° 
mentary  studies?  For  several  years  there  has 
been  in  progress  a  vigorous  campaign  for  putting  a  deeper 
content  into  common-school  instruction.  The  new  sub- 
jects, including  biography,  literary  classics,  nature  study, 
industrial  and  household  arts,  hygiene  and  sanitation,  have 
greatly  enlarged  the  knowledge  resources  of  the  elementary 
school.  Drawing,  music,  and  the  decorative  arts  are  also 
winning  a  large  place  in  the  course,  while  the  practical 
aspects  of  agriculture,  school  gardening,  commercial  geog- 
raphy, and  physical  training  are  growing  and  expanding. 
In  fact  the  last  thirty  years  have  witnessed  not  only  a 
steadily  increasing  number  of  studies  but,  more  important, 
a  surprising  improvement  in  the  quality  of  thought.  We 
have  dropped  into  a  habit  of  boasting  of  this  remarkable 
progress  of  the  schools  and  of  this  improved  quality  of  both 
cultural  and  practical  knowledge.  All  the  better  kinds  of 
knowledge,  all  the  nobler  varieties  of  human  experience, 
past  and  present,  are  represented  in  the  school  course. 

135 


136  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

We  hardly  know  where  to  look  for  more  worlds  to  conquer, 
unless  we  include  in  the  course  the  wide  range  of  strictly 
vocational  studies. 

Now  a  closer  examination  of  this  greatly  enlarged  pro- 
gram of  the  schools  may  surprise  us  with  the  discovery 
that  our  important  school  studies  have  not  been 
povensh-       enriched,  but  have  been  seriously  impoverished, 
mentof         ^y  ^nese  changes.     The  outcome  of  all  this  ap- 

studies  °  . 

parent  progress  is  the  exact  opposite  of  what  was 
intended  and  confidently  expected.  We  have  doubled 
the  number  of  studies  and  reduced  by  half  the  time  devoted 
to  important  topics.  Many  of  the  new  studies  are  badly 
organized  and  meagerly  and  poorly  taught.  We  have 
eight  or  ten  separate  subjects  of  study  each  day  where  we 
once  had  four  or  five,  and  little  time  can  be  had  for  prepa- 
ration, i.e.  for  real  study.  The  lesson  periods  are  neces- 
sarily short  and  the  treatment  of  even  important  topics  is 
brief  and  scrappy.  We  run  over  a  multitude  of  rich  sub- 
jects superficially  and  have  little  time  to  study  important 
topics  thoroughly.  To  get  all  these  things  even  meagerly 
done,  teachers  and  children  are  cramped  and  nervously 
overstimulated.  While  the  situation  in  many  schools 
may  not  be  so  discouraging  as  described  above,  still  these 
are  clearly  marked  tendencies  of  our  times.  Our  boasted 
enrichment  of  instruction  turns  out  after  all  in  some  re- 
spects to  be  a  delusion.  By  this  overcrowding  of  studies 
we  are  in  danger  of  losing  a  real  grip  on  studies,  i.e.  our 
hold  upon  those  superior  elements  of  useful  knowledge  and 
refinement  and  even  of  character-building  which  are  of 
chief  value.  Our  curriculum  has  waxed  great,  but  many 
boys  and  girls  are  kept  on  the  verge  of  mental  confusion 
and  discouragement. 


ENRICHMENT  OF  INSTRUCTION  137 

With  an  undoubted  honest  zeal  for  progress  and  with 
the  best  intentions  for  the  enrichment  of  elementary  edu- 
cation, we  have  pushed  rapidly  forward  in  our  How  to  g^g 
generous  schemes  for  enlarging  the  school  pro-  the  ^ 
gram  and  the  result  is  naturally  an  overaccumulation  of 
knowledge.  Now  with  this  embarrassment  of  riches  we 
find  ourselves  in  the  plight  of  the  swimmer  whose  precious 
bag  of  gold  is  pulling  him  down,  or  we  are  like  a  heavily 
laden  vessel  in  a  storm.  We  may  have  to  throw  overboard 
a  good  share  of  the  cargo  to  save  the  ship. 

Our  first  answer  to  the  question,  Is  the  elementary  course 
of  study  rich  in  content?  is  —  Yes.  Its  richness  is  so  great 
that  it  has  become  a  burden  and  a  danger.  The  surprising 
bounty  and  fruitfulness  of  our  elementary  studies  have  now 
for  the  first  time  dawned  upon  us  in  full  measure,  and  just 
as  we  reach  out  to  seize  this  richness  and  appropriate  it 
for  children,  it  slips  through  our  fingers  and  vanishes. 
We  wake  up  as  from  a  dream  and  wonder  what  has  hap- 
pened. The  course  of  study  has  been  vastly  enlarged; 
but  the  minds  of  the  children  have  not  been  enriched.  The 
results  we  now  witness  have  happened  in  the  natural 
order  and  need  not  surprise  us.  We  have  not  yet  solved 
our  problem  —  How  to  enrich  the  course  of  study  as  a 
means  of  enriching  the  lives  of  children.  We  cannot  afford 
to  surrender  the  large  knowledge  values  that  have  come 
to  us  so  copiously  from  literature  and  stories,  from  biog- 
raphy and  history,  from  nature  study  arid  travel,  nor  the 
sound,  practical  utilities  derived  from  the  industrial  arts, 
applied  science,  and  modern  English.  Nor  can  we  deal 
profitably  with  this  present  multiplicity  of  subjects,  this 
overaccumulation  of  studies. 

It  has  been  easier  to  collect  these  various  treasures  of 


138  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

knowledge  and  to  pile  them  up  in  the  curriculum,  than  to 

know  what  to  do  with  them  when  they  are  once  collected. 

It  is  an  easy  thing  to  introduce  a  new  study, 

It  is  easy  to 

introduce  yes,  even  a  half  dozen  new  studies,  into  the 
1  course,  but  it  is  difficult  beyond  all  computation 
to  select  and  organize  these  new  materials  with  reference 
to  other  studies  and  to  children.  Thus  far  we  have 
done  little  more  than  collect  the  raw  materials  for 
a  course  of  study  and  like  children  making  collections, 
we  have  gathered  much  material  that  we  have  little  or 
no  use  for. 

In  trying  to  select  and  group  properly  the  richest  thought 

materials  for  the  elementary  curriculum,  we  are  working 

at  one  of  the  most  complex  and  many-sided  prob- 

and  arrange    lerns  that  the  human  mind  can  venture  upon. 

the  best  is     jj.  js  £ne  j-ask  of  gifting  out  and  arranging  the 

difficult  e 

superior  elements  of  knowledge  in  all  the  sub- 
jects, with  special  reference  to  the  growing  and  assimilat- 
ing powers  of  children.  To  lay  out  a  good  plan  for  any  one 
of  a  dozen  large  school  studies  would  be  a  great  achieve- 
ment, though  it  be  a  familiar  study  like  arithmetic  or  read- 
ing. To  do  this  for  all  studies,  old  and  new,  each  with  a 
strong  individuality,  with  proper  mutual  adjustment,  is 
a  huge  task. 

This  rapid  accumulation  of  excessive  quantities  of  knowl- 
edge in  the  school  program,  and  the  failure  to  achieve  the 
results  aimed  at  and  expected  have  brought  us,  for  the 
moment,  to  a  standstill,  and  we  must  size  up  our  whole 
problem  from  a  new  standpoint  with  a  more  comprehen- 
sive grasp  of  all  the  elements  involved.  How  are  we  to 
simplify  this  overcrowded  course  of  study  and  yet  retain 
its  richness,  its  best  content? 


ENRICHMENT  OF   INSTRUCTION  139 

In  facing  this  new  problem,  teachers  everywhere  by  a 
natural  instinct  have  asked,  "What  shall  we  eliminate?" 
The  word  eliminate  has  come  into  vogue  in  recent 

A  positive 

years  as  expressing  the  means  of  escape  from  this  basis  for 
educational  dilemma.  We  have  indeed  made  orgamzation 
some  progress  in  eliminating  nonessentials.  More  re- 
cently another  kindred  expression,  "minimum  essentials" 
attempts  to  express  the  need  of  the  hour.  We  venture  to 
suggest  that  still  another  phrase  expresses  the  need  better 
yet,  What  are  the  "centers  of  organization" ?  What  is  the 
basis  for  the  constructive  organization  of  the  curriculum? 
Elimination  is  a  negative  term;  organization  is  positive 
and  calls  for  a  center  and  basis  upon  which  to  build.  What 
are  the  basal  projects  or  constructive  ideas  in  the  main 
studies  upon  which  to  collect  and  organize  the  knowledge 
stuff?  However,  the  ideas  expressed  by  elimination  and 
organization  are  merely  different  aspects  of  the  same  large 
problem. 

The  question  is  no  longer  whether  or  not  our  elementary 
studies  are  rich  in  content,  but  rather  how  to  get  at  and 
utilize  in  schools  the  best  part  of  this  superior  richness. 
We  cannot  consent  to  the  loss  or  abandonment  of  the 
substantial  enrichment  of  human  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence that  has  come  into  our  school  course  in  recent  years. 
Educationally  this  enlargement  of  the  field  of  elementary 
studies  is  the  greatest  achievement  of  our  times  and  has 
given  the  school  its  central  position  of  influence  in  the  world. 
We  have  finally  uncovered  the  deep,  abounding  sources 
of  knowledge  in  elementary  studies.  Let  this  fact  be 
established  once  for  all  as  of  main  importance  and  that 
this  superior  quality  of  enriching  knowledge  is  present  and 
available  for  the  instruction  of  children.  How  to  preserve 


140  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

and  make  use  of  this  surprising  wealth  of  cultural  and 
practical  knowledge,  how  to  reduce  the  whole  to  a  simple 
basis  by  a  central  organization  on  a  few  lines  of  thought, 
is  our  serious  problem.  We  have  not  yet  learned  how  to 
give  up  for  the  time  being  a  large  number  of  less  important 
things  in  order  to  save  the  best.  We  could  trade  off  a 
multitude  of  minor  scrappy  topics  in  order  to  gain  time  for 
handling  a  few  big,  rich  projects  adequately. 

It  is  a  question  of   somewhat  radical  reorganization, 

for  we  have  not  yet  seriously  attacked  the  problem  of 

organization.     We    have    been    discussing    and 

Going  trying  out  elimination  without  determining  be- 

deeper  to 

the  tap  roots  forehand  the  basis  of  organization,  the  few  vital 


centers  of  purposive  thought.  We  shall  not 
reorganize  our  complex  course  of  study  on  the 
basis  of  small  expedients,  by  trimming  out  a  little  here 
and  a  little  there.  We  require  something  more  than  a 
pruning  knife.  We  must  undertake  a  genuine  reorganiza- 
tion on  the  basis  of  strong,  comprehensive,  constructive 
ideas.  After  completing  a  survey  of  children  by  estimat- 
ing their  abilities  and  needs  —  we  should  turn  our  atten- 
tion to  the  deep  knowledge  subjects,  to  the  main  ideas 
that  lie  embedded  in  the  school  studies  themselves.  We 
should  make  a  closer  acquaintance  with  the  original 
sources  of  knowledge  in  school  studies  as  related  to  life, 
and  on  this  basis  alone  we  shall  strengthen  and  enlarge 
our  capacity  for  organization.  It  is  not  by  skimming  the 
surface  of  things  nor  by  dealing  with  mere  outlines  and 
minimum  essentials  and  by  occasional  eliminations  that 
we  shall  settle  the  course,  but  by  going  down  deep  into 
the  main  roots  of  important  subjects  of  study.  We  shall 
find  there  the  natural  centers  of  organization.  This  is 


ENRICHMENT  OF  INSTRUCTION  141 

said  with  all  due  respect  for  children  and  their  needs  and 
for  the  principles  of  teaching  and  their  value. 

The  present  demand  for  this  enrichment  of  the  curriculum 
based  on  a  proper  reorganization  of  studies  has  behind 
it  the  heavy  pressure  of  necessity.  For  more 
than  a  generation  this  movement  to  incorporate 
a  full  measure  of  these  superior  thought  ma-  cies  *? b® 

0  combined 

terials  into  the  common-school  course  has  been 
gaining  power  till  it  has  become  irresistible.  In  spite 
of  this  the  needed  reorganization  of  studies  has  not  gone 
far  and  meets  with  powerful  resistance.  It  is  in  fact  a 
colossal  undertaking.  We  still  have  in  the  main  our 
old  course  of  study.  The  conservative  tendency  to  hold 
fast  to  old  ideas  and  practice  is  quite  as  strong  as  the  urgent 
demand  of  the  progressives  for  new  studies.  In  fact  we 
have  been  adding  new  studies  more  rapidly  by  far  than  we 
have  been  discarding  old  ones.  Most  teachers  and  book- 
makers in  planning  courses  are  conservative.  Subjects 
that  once  get  established  in  textbooks  and  in  the  habits 
of  teachers  are  slow  to  disappear.  The  public  school 
system  is  a  massive  structure,  embodied  in  textbooks  and 
curricula  and  in  long  prevailing  habits  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  teachers.  We  may  build  additions  here  and 
there  but  any  serious  change  in  the  main  structure  of  the 
course  is  a  slow  process. 

But  free  discussion  may  bring  about  a  cooperative  effort 
between  conservatives  and  progressives.  Much  ground 
must  be  given  up  on  both  sides  before  we  can  have  a  simple 
and  reasonable  course  of  study.  Teachers  should  look  this 
important  problem  squarely  in  the  face.  With  unprejudiced 
minds  they  should  estimate  openly  and  fairly  the  relative 
values  and  mutual  relation  of  these  two  powerful  tendencies. 


142  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

The  old  course  of  study  in  the  common  schools  which 
prevailed  for  many  years  was  chiefly  formal  and  instru- 
mental, devoted  to  a  mastery  of  the  symbols 
course  was  which  express  thought,  to  formal  reading,  writ- 
ing, and  spelling,  arithmetic,  and  composition. 
The  right  drill  upon  these  formal  exercises  was  believed, 
also,  to  have  a  superior  disciplinary  value.  This  fact  that 
elementary  studies  were  mechanical,  dealing  mainly  with 
arbitrary  symbols,  established  early  and  deeply  the  convic- 
tion that  primary  studies  were  by  nature  weak  in  content 
and  to  be  mastered  by  sheer  memory  effort. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  school  became  a  dry,  dull 
place  devoted  to  drill,  and  that  the  theories  of  education 
in  vogue  supported  this  disciplinary  training. 
of  enriching  But  a  remarkable  change  took  place  with  the 
introduction  of  this  surprising  group  of  enrich- 
ing, thought-stimulating  studies,  —  story-telling,  biog- 
raphy, nature  study  and  excursions,  geography  and  travel, 
dramatizing  of  literature,  games,  construction  work,  draw- 
ing and  industrial  arts,  and  physical  training.  Later  still 
came  applied  science,  health  and  sanitation,  school  garden- 
ing and  agriculture.  All  these  studies  fill  up  and  expand 
the  mind  with  activities,  with  information,  with  engrossing 
ideas,  with  cultural,  emotional,  and  esthetic  experiences. 
They  give  equal  emphasis  to  the  useful  or  practical  on  one 
side,  and  to  the  cultural  or  ideal  on  the  other  side. 

Naturally  there  was  a  powerful  effort  by  the  school- 
masters to  impose  the  formal  drill  method  of 

Skeletoniz-      A ,  . ,  .  •,  . 

ing  the          the  old   school    upon    the    incoming,  enriching 
thought         thought  studies,  because  those  old  methods  were 

studies 

in  vogue  and  familiar  to  the  teachers.     When 
modern  science,  history,  literature,  and  geography,  and  even 


ENRICHMENT   OF   INSTRUCTION  143 

the  shop  activities  were  first  taken  up  by  the  schools,  they, 
too,  were  formalized  and  stereotyped  into  a  dull  recital 
of  facts  and  were  stripped  of  thought  content  almost  as 
naked  as  the  three  "R's."  The  school  and  the  teachers 
were  still  in  the  formal  stage  and  all  studies  were  reduced 
to  the  same  level.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  people 
at  first  failed  to  see  in  even  these  new  studies  any  rich  and 
scholarly  thought  material  or  deep,  inspiring,  cultural 
influences.  And  yet  these  new  studies  had  opened  up 
fountains  of  inexhaustible  richness.  It  was  impossible 
that  these  copious  and  enriching  streams  of  thought  should 
fail  in  the  end  to  break  through  these  formal  barriers  and 
display  to  the  world  their  boundless  resources.  This 
event  has  now  happened  and  we  are  fully  conscious  of  the 
unmeasured  wealth  of  knowledge  and  culture  at  our  free 
disposal  in  history,  in  literature,  in  the  fine  arts,  in  music, 
in  science,  and  in  geography.  In  fact  now  that  the  flood 
gates  have  been  opened  and  these  refreshing  streams  of 
knowledge  have  poured  into  the  schools  through  these 
various  channels,  we  find  ourselves  swamped  with  an  over- 
supply  of  the  riches  of  knowledge. 

Enthusiastic  teachers  of  these  instructive  and  enlivening 
modern  subjects  have  been  tempted  to  turn  the  tables 
upon  the  old  formal  schoolmasters  and  demand 
that  we  give  up  these  routine  methods  of  teach-  The  swing 

of  the  pen- 
ing,  these  formal  drills  and  reviews,  the  lock-  duiumto 


step  and  the  memory  grind.     They  have  gone 

so  far  as  to  impose  the  new  thought  methods 

upon  the  old  formal  studies.     We  no  longer  need  these 

mechanical  drills  and  painful,    meaningless  memorizings, 

they  say.     Give  the  children  good  inspiring  projects  and 

problems  and  stories  and  they  will  pick  up  the  formal 


144  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

elements  of  reading  and  language  and  spelling.  Incidental 
appropriation  of  those  symbols  and  technical  formalities 
will  take  place.  It  is  not  our  purpose  at  this  point  to 
attempt  to  show  the  exact  relation  between  the  content 
and  formal  studies.  It  would  be  tolerant  and  fair-minded 
to  say  that  the  two  classes  of  studies  by  nature  are  so  widely 
different  that  they  require  different  methods,  and  it  would 
be  a  mistake  to  impose  arbitrarily  and  wholly  the  plan 
and  method  of  one  group  upon  the  other. 

In  the  development  of  our  curriculum  in  recent  years  the 

deeper  and  stronger  thought  studies  have  thus  risen  to 

great  prominence.     But  it  is  easy  to  spoil  these 

drift™          fruitful  studies  in  the  handling.     The  crowding 

toward          m  of  manv  studies  has  forced  us  back  into  for- 

formausm  >  •* 

malism.  The  mere  formal  memorizing  of  lone- 
some facts  in  geography  and  history  is  just  as  tedious  and 
irksome  to  children  as  the  memorizing  of  symbols  and 
alphabets.  In  reading,  writing,  spelling,  and  numbers, 
the  forms  and  symbols  must  be  mastered  as  individual 
facts.  But  in  geography  and  history  it  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  isolated  facts  have  any  significance.  Thought 
studies,  like  literature  and  history,  differ  essentially  from 
the  form  studies.  They  center  in  ideas  and  not  in  indi- 
vidual facts,  at  least  not  in  mere  forms.  Ideas  alone  give 
content  to  the  great  thought  studies.  There  has  been  a 
mistaken  notion  among  teachers  and  even  among  scholars 
that  children  should  store  up  a  large  quantity  of  these  iso- 
lated facts  in  history  or  geography  before  they  could  make 
a  proper  beginning  in  these  studies.  A  few  years  ago  it 
was  supposed  even  in  high  schools  and  colleges  that  the 
way  to  study  literature  was  to  learn  the  name  and  date  of 
an  author  and  a  list  of  the  titles  of  his  works,  and  so  one 


ENRICHMENT  OF   INSTRUCTION  145 

after  another  in  tedious  succession  the  dry  bones  of  litera- 
ture were  memorized.  We  have  since  learned  that  the 
better  way  is  to  plunge  at  once  into  the  original  works  of 
writers.  Read  the  best  stories  and  poems.  Get  directly 
at  the  main  ideas  of  the  author  in  the  fullness  and  strength 
of  the  author's  own  presentation.  This  curious  opinion 
that  we  must  first  learn  a  lot  of  bare  facts  about  a  subject 
and  store  them  away  for  a  period  of  years  and  later  allow 
them  to  develop  into  meaning  is  a  mother  of  blunders  in 
teaching. 

The  case  is  perfectly  clear  in  literature.  It  may  become 
equally  clear  in  geography,  history,  and  science.  When 
this  one  great  fact  has  become  clear,  we  shall  see 

.....  The  inten- 

that  the  elementary  school  is  the  favored  place  for  Swe  treat- 


the  full  exploitation  of  the  strong  content  studies.       n£f  * 


Heretofore  we  have  been  dealing  too  much  with  teaching 
individual  facts,  isolated  fragments  of  these  rich 
subjects.  We  have  been  mainly  engaged  in  learning  the 
tables  of  contents,  and  not  in  examining  the  contents 
themselves.  The  time  has  now  come  when  these  deep, 
inspiring  subjects  should  be  opened  up  in  their  full  rich- 
ness to  children's  minds.  At  this  point  we  strike  the  hub 
and  center  of  the  whole  problem  of  enriching  elementary 
studies.  Can  we  by  any  means  break  loose  from  the 
inherited  routine  of  fact-cramming  and  memorizing  which 
has  been  clamped  even  upon  the  big-thought  studies  and 
gain  for  ourselves  the  freedom  to  deal  directly  and  liberally 
with  a  few  of  these  large  units  of  study  in  a  realistic  and 
thought-inspiring  way  ?  If  this  conception  of  study  should 
prevail,  we  shall  be  forced  to  a  rigid  selection  of  a  few  focal 
units  of  study  in  each  of  the  main  thought  subjects.  Each 
of  these  large  units,  once  selected,  will  become  the  basis 


146  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

for  an  intensive,  what  we  might  justly  call,  masterly,  study, 
unearthing  the  choicest  and  richest  elements  in  it.  Like 
a  marrow  bone  each  subject  must  be  cracked  open  so  as  to 
reveal  the  inner  fatness. 

In  the  three  grades  of  the  primary  school,  children  have 
approximately  mastered  the  symbols  and  forms  and  are 

ready  to  plunge  into  the  deeper  knowledge  sub- 
Big,  fruitful  jects.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  grade  we 
lessons  in  are  prepared  to  encounter  with  the  children  the 
i£T<Sediate  real  Problems  of  the  thought  studies.  Here  we 

should  be  very  wise  and  circumspect  in  making 
our  beginnings.  (See  Chapter  IV.)  We  must  have  some 
big,  interesting,  objective  topics,  some  first-class  stories 
of  heroic  adventure,  of  travel,  exploration,  and  pioneer 
exploit.  Literature  has  a  few  strong  old  tales ;  biography 
is  ready  with  its  Bruces  and  Boones  and  Champlains; 
geography  is  picturesque,  descriptive,  and  full  of  big  proj- 
ects ;  science  can  display  its  inventions  and  discoveries. 
The  temptation  is  to  undertake  too  many  even  of  these 
superior  tales  and  projects.  One  story  elaborately  and 
artistically  presented  is  better  than  many,  half  done. 

We  are  now  called  upon  to  select  more  carefully  the 
interesting  and  lasting  thought-centers,  the  projects  around 

which  this  copious  and  inspiring  knowledge  can 
ample  of  be  best  grouped  and  organized.  We  have  been 

groping  after  these  consolidation  centers.  We 
have  now  at  hand  the  full  knowledge  materials  and  we  lack 
only  a  clearer  vision  of  the  centers  of  organization.  In 
spite  of  the  recent  overcrowded  condition  of  our  curricu- 
lum, in  spite  of  our  strong  traditional  tendencies  toward 
formal  drill,  the  schools  already  have  made  a  remarkable 
advance  toward  absorbing  these  instructive  materials  into 


ENRICHMENT  OF   INSTRUCTION  147 

the  appropriate  centers.  In  literature,  for  example,  we 
have  gone  over,  both  in  theory  and  practice,  to  the  use  of 
complete  stories  and  poems,  English  masterpieces  as  wholes. 
We  are  learning  also  to  center  attention  upon  one  of  these 
units  of  study,  to  make  it  a  rendezvous  for  important  and 
far-reaching  facts  and  relations.  These  complete  products 
of  our  literary  chiefs  are  now  distributed  through  all  the 
grades  from  the  first  to  the  eighth.  The  stories  of  Haw- 
thorne, Scott,  Grimm,  Homer,  Irving,  Shakespeare,  and 
the  Bible  have  been  chosen  because  they  are  strong,  sim- 
ple, and  significant,  containing  those  germs  of  thought 
which  are  vital  and  constructive,  and  suitable.  We  have 
found  that  children's  minds  spring  to  meet  the  occasion 
and  grapple  with  these  world-building  ideas.  The  same 
stories  used  one  or  two  generations  ago  in  the  college  Greek 
classes  are  now  commonly  read  or  told  and  dramatized 
with  enthusiasm  by  children  of  the  third  and  fourth  grades, 
e.g.  the  tales  and  adventures  of  Ulysses,  Perseus,  Achilles, 
and  Hercules.  In  the  grammar  grades,  Evangeline,  Lady 
of  the  Lake,  and  Merchant  of  Venice,  once  used  only  in 
normal  schools  and  colleges,  are  fully  exploited  before 
the  high  school  age.  Sometimes  they  are  not  well  taught, 
but  that  may  be  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  we  fail  to  get 
good  teachers. 

We  now  recognize  the  power  of  children  to  think,  and 
we  permit  them  even  in  primary  grades  to  exercise  their 
brains  upon  thought  material  of  permanent  value.  In 
literature  we  recognize  the  privilege  and  the  right  of  the 
children  to  think,  and  to  think  on  a  high  level  of  intellectual, 
esthetic,  and  moral  truth.  We  may  go  one  step  further  and 
say  that  if  children  do  not  absorb  in  childhood  a  large  part 
of  the  finer  cultural  influences  or  sentiments  of  the  best 


148  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

stories  and  poems,  they  will  be  seriously  handicapped  in 
adult  life  and  no  later  opportunities  in  college  or  university 
are  likely  to  make  good  the  deficiency. 

This  successful  experience  in  the  use  of  large  units  of 

study   or   classics   in   literature  with  children  throughout 

the  elementary  school  suggests  that  other  im- 

Ezample  of  .        °°< 

biographical  portant  thought  studies,  history,  science,  and 
geography,  and  industrial  arts  may  use  to  ad- 
vantage a  similar  plan  of  big  projects  with  big-thought 
material.  The  schools  have  been  at  work  selecting  and 
proving  up  on  these  important  topics.  During  the  last 
few  years  historical  instruction  in  the  grades  has  been  try- 
ing out  a  series  of  sturdy  biographical  narratives  which 
show  a  strong  mental  fiber.  The  lives  of  notable  explorers, 
inventors,  statesmen,  and  benefactors,  when  aptly  de- 
scribed, exhibit  in  personal,  objective  illustration  projects 
and  ideas  which  have  shaped  progress  and  built  up  stable 
institutions.  Such  full,  biographical  stories,  more  than 
almost  any  other  influence,  impress  the  minds  of  children 
with  the  real  American  spirit.  In  our  schools  the  tendency 
toward  biographical  stories  is  increasingly  strong.  It 
furnishes  a  generous  and  inspiring  content  which  leads  up 
through  representative  characters  to  an  appreciation  of 
important  historical  movements  and  great  leadership. 

In  the  natural  sciences,  an  important  succession  of  dis- 
coveries exhibits  some  of  the  main  projects  of  applied 
Applied  science  in  objective  demonstrations.  The  re- 
science  markable  inventions  of  scientists  in  a  striking 
fashion  lead  on  to  a  study  and  investigation  of  the  deeper 
problems  of  science.  An  adequate  introduction  to  our 
modern  advances  in  the  industries,  in  commerce,  in  medi- 
cine and  in  machinery,  can  be  based  upon  such  biographies. 


ENRICHMENT   OF   INSTRUCTION  149 

Finally,  geography  brings  upon  exhibit  an  array  of  big 
projects  by  which  man  has  put  to  his  service  the  forces  of 
nature,  i.e.  national  roads,  steamship  lines, 
schemes  of  river  regulation,  the  reconstruction 
of  cities,  the  drainage  of  swamps  and  reclaiming 


of  deserts,  and  reduction  works  for  gold  and 
copper.  Geography  abounds  in  these  colossal  but  simple 
objective  projects  that  display  man's  power  and  ingenuity 
in  controlling  and  organizing  the  forces  about  him,  —  all 
as  definite,  striking  object  lessons.  These  big,  expansive, 
world-constructing  projects,  descriptively  elaborated,  are 
now  coming  more  or  less  into  common  use  in  the  schools. 
Though  gigantic  in  dimensions  and  power,  they  are  simple 
and  by  no  means  beyond  the  thinking  ability  of  boys  and 
girls.  Indeed  as  big  object  lessons  they  just  suit  the  frame 
of  their  aspiring  minds.  They  have  produced  an  awaken- 
ing as  to  the  meaning  of  large  things  in  the  real  world  that 
has  surprised  teachers.  Children  have  a  native  right  to 
these  big  projects  most  worth  thinking  about  and  in  a 
form  objective  and  stimulating  to  the  imagination. 

History,  geography,  and  science  are  thus  found  to  be 
open  to  inspection  for  boys  and  girls,  first  of  all  as  big, 
concrete,  simple  object  lessons,  full  of  world 

...  .  111-11       Conclusion 

information,  well  worth  the  knowing,  closely 
identified  with  the  active  forces  at  work  about  us  shaping 
our  world.  These  are  the  things  for  the  understanding 
of  which  it  is  worth  while  to  spend  time  and  money  in 
sending  our  children  to  school  and  in  keeping  them  there 
under  wide-awake,  well-informed  teachers. 

In  the  reorganization  of  our  course  of  study  we  must  pick 
out  the  biggest  and  best  of  these  large  topics  which  embody 
the  constructive,  purposive  ideas  that  are  to  frame  up  our 


150  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

world  of  knowledge.  We  may  learn  how  to  work  out  the 
complete,  elaborate  treatment  of  these  big,  central  units 
and  bring  them  into  an  orderly  sequence. 

We  are  not  without  experience  in  this  kind  of  effort. 
A  goodly  number  of  important  knowledge  units  or  projects 
have  been  developed  with  a  full  treatment  and  have  been 
tried  out  in  classes.  Successful  efforts  have  been  made, 
for  example,  with  such  units  as  New  York  Harbor,  the 
first  steamboat  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  Burgoyne's 
campaign,  the  Erie  Canal,  the  Virginia  Plantation,  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana,  the  Panama  Canal,  corn  production, 
the  cotton  plantation,  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  a  Dakota 
wheat  farm,  irrigation  in  the  West,  the  Rhine  River,  city 
sanitation. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  been  dealing  with  one  of  the 
very  distinctive  problems  of  our  modern  education,  namely, 
how  to  make  use  of  this  new  and  surprising  wealth  of 
knowledge  that  has  opened  up.  Does  it  belong  to  the 
elementary  school?  Are  children  capable  of  appreciating 
and  enjoying  this  rich  heritage  of  knowledge  and  refine- 
ment? 

SUMMARY  OF  MAIN  POINTS 

1.  The  influx  of  the  modern  thought   studies  and  the 

consequent  enlargement  of   the   curriculum  as 

Summary  ,  . 

a   whole    has    been    a    great    achievement    in 
education. 

2.  This  has  led  to  an  overloading  and  congestion  of  the 
school  program.     The  outcome  is  an  actual  impoverish- 
ment, through  condensation,  of  the  important  studies,  a 
natural  and  yet  a  very  disappointing  result. 

3.  The  demand  of  the  conservatives   for  the  retention 


ENRICHMENT  OF   INSTRUCTION  151 

of  the  old  studies  and  methods,  and  the  equally  strong 
demand  of  the  progressives  for  the  introduction  and  steady 
enlargement  of  the  new  studies  have  made  it  impossible  as 
yet  to  reorganize  instruction  on  a  simple  basis. 

4.  Literature,  history,  geography,  and  science  have  been 
pushing  to  the  front  with  larger  and  richer  contributions. 
And  yet  this  enrichment  can  find  no  proper  expression  in 
a  condensed  and  epitomized  course  of  study.     Somewhere 
we  must  find  receptacles  large  enough  and  strong  enough 
to  contain  these  superior,  vital  elements  of  knowledge. 

5.  The  expanded  teaching  units,  the  big  topics  are  these 
receptacles.     The  unstinted  elaboration  of  these  big  teach- 
ing units  furnishes  the  only  opportunity  for  gathering  in  and 
preserving  this  indispensable,  best  content  of  knowledge. 

6.  The  intensive  treatment  of  big  projects  is  demanded 
in  the  interest  of  children,  because  it  is  the  only  avenue 
through  which  this  deepening  of  thought  can  be  brought 
home  to  the  minds  of  children.     All  other  plans  have  some- 
how failed  to  bring  into  use  this  superior,  enlivening  thought 
element.     In  fact  our  present  short,  abridgment  methods 
of  teaching  these  topics  saps  the  life  out  of  studies  and 
leaves  them  weak  in  the  very  thought  elements  that  ought 
to  be  strongest. 

7.  It  is  the  very  nature  of  one  of  these  big  units  to  expand 
and  to  gather  into  itself  a  full  measure  of  this  enriching 
knowledge.     It   must   be   enlarged;    it    cannot  be  skele- 
tonized. 

8.  By  allowing  one  of  these  big  units  of  study  its  full, 
natural  growth,  by  which  alone  it  can  be  fully  understood 
and  mastered  by  children,  we  accomplish  the  two  definite 
results  aimed  at  in  instruction  —  simplification  and  en- 
richment of  instruction. 


CHAPTER  IX 
LARGER  LESSON  PLANNING  BASED  ON  PROJECTS 

THE  first  eight  chapters  of  this  book  bring  to  the  front 

the  large  project,  the  expanded  teaching  unit,  as  a  standard 

measure  of  knowledge  which  becomes  the  basis 

Collecting      for  the  teaching  process.     It  is  important  to 

and  organiz- 

ing knowl-     get  this  large  conception  of  the  standard  teach- 


ing  unit  well  grounded  in  our  thought.  Its 
supreme  value  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  on 
one  side  it  determines  the  course  of  study  and  on  the 
other  side  the  details  of  method.  By  referring  all  the 
minor  details  and  processes  of  instruction  back  to  these 
important  centers  of  organization  we  get  a  much  broader 
conception  of  method  in  teaching.  The  process  of  collect- 
ing the  abundant  resources  of  knowledge  and  of  combining 
them  into  these  enlarged  units  of  study  may  be  called  the 
larger  lesson  planning.  Until  we  have  broadly  mapped 
out  the  field  of  study  by  selecting  these  big  projects  and 
have  marshaled  the  forces  of  knowledge  around  them  as 
centers,  we  have  no  proper  basis  for  method  in  teaching. 
It  seems  strange  that  this  important  preliminary  work  has 
been  left  out  of  our  calculations  and  that  we  have  plunged 
headlong  into  instruction  without  it.  This  failure  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  method  broad  and  deep  in  large  teach- 
ing units  has  rendered  our  discussions  of  method  to  a  large 
extent  trivial  and  formal. 

152 


LARGER   LESSON  PLANNING  153 

Deliberate,  comprehensive  planning  and  wise  forethought 
on  this  large  scale  are  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  edu- 
cator's task.  Careful  daily  planning  has  been 

.  This  pre- 

set down  by  all  teachers  as  a  thing  of  impor- 

tance,  but  we  now  see  that  broad,  deliberate  les- 

son  planning  strikes  deep  into  the  organization  has  been 

3   .      .      ,  „        .       neglected 

of  knowledge  in  its  broadest  aspects  as  well  as  in 
its  narrower  daily  activities.  The  discovery  of  a  com- 
prehensive, tangible  basis  for  lesson  planning  would  go 
far  toward  solving  the  most  perplexing  problems  of  teach- 
ing. As  a  class  we  teachers  have  not  taken  this  matter 
very  seriously.  Putting  our  reliance  chiefly  upon  outline 
courses  of  study  and  upon  textbooks,  we  have  not  exerted 
ourselves  to  master  the  larger  problems  of  lesson  planning, 
what  we  have  just  called  the  central  organization  of  knowl- 
edge at  strategic  points  and  the  constructive  continuity 
of  thought  extending  through  whole  studies.  We  plod 
along  through  numerous  details  with  the  textbook  as  our 
guide,  failing  to  get  the  broad,  organizing  surveys  of  knowl- 
edge. In  a  very  narrow  sense  the  one-day  lesson  may  be 
complete  in  itself,  but  in  a  broader  sense  it  should  involve 
the  course  of  study  in  wide-reaching  relations  both  lon- 
gitudinally and  crosswise.  In  the  study  of  sanitary  prob- 
lems like  the  water  supply  of  cities  or  a  wholesome  milk 
supply  from  dairies,  we  should  keep  our  eyes  open  to 
many-sided  and  far-reaching  relations  of  such  a  subject 
of  study. 

Teachers  are  now  called  upon  to  accustom  themselves 
to  this  broader  conception  of  lesson  planning,  based  upon 
larger  units,  upon  more  comprehensive  surveys  of  knowl- 
edge, and  upon  a  far  deeper  scholarship.  People  in  other 
professions  have  been  practicing  this  wise  foresight. 


154  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

The  architect  works  for  weeks  and  months  on  his  plans 
for  building  before  a  bit  of  work  has  been  done  in  the  actual 
Foresi  ht  construction.  A  farmer  is  now  compelled  to  look 
mother  ahead  three  or  four  years  and  to  plan  his  crop 
rotation  and  stock  raising.  The  merchant  fore- 
casts the  future,  counting  the  cost  and  weighing  possible 
contingencies  before  laying  in  a  stock  of  goods.  Insurance 
companies  work  on  a  long-time  statistical  schedule.  So 
do  all  corporations  that  do  business  on  a  large  scale.  The 
teacher  should  not  stumble  along  thoughtlessly  from  day 
to  day. 

The  large  unit  of  study  becomes  thus  the  natural  basis 
for  our  efforts  at  large  lesson  planning.  It  furnishes  a 
definite,  though  flexible,  scheme  for  organizing  knowledge. 
Big,  important  segments  of  extensive  knowledge,  rounded 
up  into  full  units  of  thought,  furnish  the  true  basis  for  the 
teacher's  thinking.  They  should  be  grasped  first  in  their 
comprehensive  significance  by  the  teacher  and  later  exe- 
cuted in  their  fullness  and  detail. 

The  large  unit  of  study  organized  around  a  single,  grow- 
ing idea  is  the  central  object  of  the  teacher's  serious  thought. 
For  its  working  out  in  the  classroom  five  or  ten 
The  large  or  even  more  lessons  may  be  required.  The 

unit  con-  m  *• 

sidered  exact  length  of  time  or  number  of  lessons  may 
whole8  vary.  The  whole  unit  should  be  planned  out 
in  its  proper  sequence  and  thought-movement 
without  regard  at  first  to  the  number  of  lessons.  Even 
the  experienced  teacher  cannot  foretell  just  how  many 
lessons  will  be  needed  to  complete  a  large  subject,  as  the 
Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,  or  Enoch  Arden.  This,  owing  to 
contingencies,  is  not  predictable.  If  the  main  subject  as 
a  whole  is  well  planned,  the  succession  of  individual  lessons 


LARGER   LESSON   PLANNING  155 

will  work  out  satisfactorily.  Without  this  large  plan  it  is 
a  tedious  and  doubtful  task  to  plan  out  a  week's  lessons 
ahead  as  separate  units.  Single  lessons  are  in  themselves 
seldom  proper  units  of  thought.  To  force  them  into  this 
artificial  form  is  misleading  and  wasteful  of  effort.  It  is 
better  to  let  the  large  topic  take  its  natural  course  and  to 
relieve  the  teacher  from  tiresome  and  useless  work. 

Big  units  of  study  not  only  furnish  a  sound,  rational 
basis  for  lesson  planning  in  the  large,  but  they  provide 
also  a  liberal  scheme  of  lesson  organization  freed 
from  the  cramping  and  petty  details  of  over-  K?e?!£  b. 
refinements  in  method.     Big  topics  offer  free  unit  in  its 
scope  for  large  thought-movements,  while  they  Aspects 
leave  minor  details  to  the  judgment  of  individual 
teachers  and  to  the  demands  of  the  moment.     Teachers 
frequently  make  the  mistake  of  painstaking  effort  in  work- 
ing out  many  small,  daily  lesson  plans  instead  of  making 
a  large,  simple  plan  for  a  whole  series  of  lessons.     The 
teacher  who,  without   stopping   to  survey  and  master  a 
large  topic  like  the  Purchase  of  Louisiana  in  1804,  works 
out  the  first  lesson,  the  second,  the  third,  and  so  on  for  a 
week  or  ten  days  ahead  has  failed  probably  to  grasp  clearly 
the  central  idea  upon  which  the  whole  series  of  lessons  rests. 
The  teacher  has  had  a  tedious  task  and  the  result  is  a  series 
of  lessons  not  well  organized.     Each  day's  lesson  may  be 
a  fragment  of  some  larger  whole.     But  the  fragments  fail 
to  come  together  to  form  the  large  unit.     By  breaking  up 
knowledge  into   these  unsatisfactory  fragments,   we  lose 
sight  of  the  organizing  idea,  and  our  school  instruction 
becomes  a  collection  of  shreds  and  patches.     This  is  lit- 
erally true.     Instead  of  a  few  well-rounded  units  of  study 
our  school  books  often  display  a  tedious  and  almost  endless 


156  TEACHING    BY   PROJECTS 

enumeration  of  mere  facts  and  topics  and  these  are  inter- 
spersed with  short  summarizing  statements  little  better 
than  conventional  platitudes.  It  is  hard  to  see  how  even 
experienced  teachers  could  plan  wisely  on  the  basis  of  such 
broken  fragments  of  knowledge.  A  far  more  satisfactory 
and  effective  method  of  planning  lessons  than  this  hand-to- 
mouth  process  is  much  needed  by  teachers.  The  teacher 
should  not  be  like  the  mole  burrowing  in  the  dark  hoping 
to  meet  something,  but  he  should  have  his  eyes  open  look- 
ing ahead,  and  knowing  what  good  things  are  in  store, 
always  conscious  of  the  larger  main  issue. 

Our  training  schools  for  teachers  are  tempted  to  run  to 
seed  in  the  minutiae  of  lesson  planning.  There  is  always 
danger  of  losing  sight  of  important  governing  ideas  in  devo- 
tion to  these  minute  methodisms.  The  big  topic  with  its 
large  sweep  of  thought,  with  its  comprehensive  organiza- 
tion of  knowledge  materials,  at  once  drops  these  little 
things  out  of  sight ;  for  the  mind  is  already  filled  and  pre- 
possessed with  a  larger  view. 

The  careful  planning  of  a  single  lesson  for  one  day  is  a 
very  profitable  exercise  for  young  and  inexperienced  teach- 
ers and  occasionally  for  all  teachers.  Presupposing  that  a 
large  unit  of  study  has  been  first  well  mastered  and  or- 
ganized as  a  whole,  the  careful  planning  of  one  lesson  ahead 
each  day  is  an  essential  part  of  the  program,  especially 
with  teachers  in  training.  This  phase  of  the  subject  may 
be  better  dealt  with  under  the  head  of  minor  lesson  planning. 

In  the  degree  that  fragmentary,  miscellaneous  fact- 
knowledge  wastes  time  and  effort,  to  that  same  degree  the 
mastery  of  large,  fully-organized  units  of  study  econo- 
mizes time  and  increases  the  value  of  effort.  The  big  unit 
of  study,  in  its  forward  march,  brings  on  a  copious  and 


LARGER   LESSON  PLANNING  157 

enriching  experience  from  which  to  elaborate  important 
conclusions.     This  progressive  working  over  and  assimila- 
tion of  knowledge    into  large,  rational  units  of 
thought  gives  strength  and  coherency  and  reten-  organizing0 
tiveness   to   what   is   learned.     This    not   only  intolarge 

units 

economizes  time  in  learning,  but  it  trains  children 
into  right  habits  of  thinking  and  of  organizing  knowledge. 
A  good  example  is  the  study  of  Chicago  as  a  trade  center. 
The  same  number  of  lessons  spent  on  one  large  project, 
like  the  Erie  Canal,  will  furnish  the  child  not  only  with  a 
large  quantity  of  important  information,  —  more  facts  in 
history  and  geography,  —  but  also  a  deeper  insight  into  the 
meaning  of  the  facts  and  beyond  that  a  broad  survey  of 
their  combined  significance. 

A  well-organized  unit,  completely  worked  out  in  its 
descriptive  details,  is  a  godsend  to  a  good  teacher  who  is 
face  to  face  with  the  problem  of  planning  a  series  A  godsend 
of  profitable  lessons  for  a  class.  The  teacher  to  teachers 
may  not  have  the  time  or  the  resources  for  gathering  the 
necessary  materials;  but  if  the  full  treatment  of  such  a 
big  unit  is  already  furnished,  with  one  or  two  evenings' 
study  she  may  master  its  content,  and  on  this  basis  she 
can  from  time  to  time  plan  out  a  whole  series  of  instructive 
lessons  lasting  two  or  three  weeks.  To  prepare  such  a 
topic  from  the  beginning,  by  going  back  to  the  original 
sources,  might  well  require  all  her  spare  time  for  two  or 
three  months.  Big  topics  like  the  Virginia  Plantation  and 
the  Panama  Canal  are  full  proofs  of  the  above  statements, 
that  is,  the  time-devouring  effort  required  for  the  original 
preparation  of  such  subjects,  and  again,  their  great  value 
for  a  teacher  needing  well-organized  material  for  immedi- 
ate use.  In  using  such  a  well-prepared  topic  it  is  not 


158  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

necessary,  therefore,  that  each  day's  lesson  be  worked  out 
beforehand  as  a  separate  unit,  but  the  undivided  thought- 
movement  of  the  whole  has  been  fully  studied  through  and 
planned  for  the  entire  series  of  lessons.  As  the  large  sub- 
ject develops,  each  day's  lesson  will  bring  on  its  own  seg- 
ment of  the  whole. 

It  is  not  safe  to  assume  that  each  teacher  can  collect 

and  organize  all  this  varied  knowledge  material  for  herself. 

The  work  of  selecting  central  units  of  study  and 

The  direct  . 

value  to  of  gathering  and  arranging  this  copious  informa- 
richhwei£f  ^on  m*-°  well-°rganized  wholes  should  have  been 
organized  already  accomplished.  This  difficult  and  exten- 
sive preliminary  work  may  be  done  beforehand 
by  special  experts  in  various  studies.  The  teacher  is  now 
called  upon  to  take  this  gift  of  complete,  well-ordered 
knowledge  and  thoroughly  master  it  for  classroom  purposes. 
This  is  indeed  no  small  task,  but  it  is  exactly  the  thing  which 
every  good  teacher  is  glad  to  undertake  because  it  is  the 
price  he  must  pay  in  order  to  become  a  good  teacher. 
Leaders  in  education,  organizers  of  school  courses,  super- 
intendents and  supervisors  who  make  demands  upon  teach- 
ers should  see  to  it  that  the  teachers  are  first  of  all  well 
supplied  with  big,  rich  topics,  elaborated  and  prepared 
beforehand.  To  say  that  every  teacher  must  make  all 
this  preliminary  preparation  for  himself  is  mere  talk  and 
worse.  No  teacher  ever  has  done  it,  and  no  teacher  ever 
can,  because  it  is  so  large  and  extensive  a  labor  that  many 
well-equipped  specialists  are  needed  to  accom- 
difficuit  plish  it.  Even  in  normal  schools,  devoted  to 
the  special  preparation  of  teachers  in  a  two-year 
course,  the  instructors  in  special  subjects  have  not  been 
able,  as  yet,  to  select  and  group  the  suitable  materials 


LARGER   LESSON  PLANNING  159 

about  the  central  topics.  It  is  imperatively  needed  in  every 
good  training  school  for  teachers.  But  the  collection  and 
organization  of  extensive  and  appropriate  source  materials 
around  centers  of  knowledge  is  a  very  large  and  difficult 
task  for  the  execution  of  which  well-trained  and  richly  stored 
minds  are  needed.  Extensive  libraries  are  also  required. 

With  such  full  units  of  study  at  hand  the  class  teacher 
will  be  able  to  stock  up  with  a  supply  of  well-digested 
knowledge  on  each  topic  that  constitutes  a  first-class  prep- 
aration from  the  standpoint  of  scholarship.  It  is  a 
wholly  different  quality  and  assortment  of  knowledge  from 
that  found  in  textbooks.  It  is  deep,  rich,  concrete,  in- 
tensive. It  is  progressively  organized  and  dynamic  in  its 
thought  processes  and  it  is  practical,  in  close  adjustment 
to  life  and  reality. 

By  common,  universal  consent,  our  textbooks  do  not  hit 
the  mark.     They  do  not  supply  what  is  needed.     They  are 
condensed  and  dry  and  ridiculously  inadequate, 
and  yet  they  are  about  all  the  average  teacher  need  heip 
has.     But  we  say  to   the   teacher,   "Skirmish  and  are  left 

in  the  lurch 

about  and  get  more  material."  The  majority  of 
teachers  do  not  know  where  to  look  or  what  to  look  for. 
Why  not  get  busy  and  supply  teachers  with  this  indis- 
pensable kind  of  knowledge?  Perhaps  it  is  easier  to  talk 
and  speculate  about  what  the  average  teacher  ought  to 
know  and  ought  to  do.  As  a  final  refuge  we  can  fall  back 
upon  the  trite  saying  that  "the  teacher  must  learn  to  help 
himself."  But  the  opportunity  to  help  themselves  is  now 
just  what  the  teachers  need.  The  big,  well-organized, 
enriched  units  of  study,  furnished  to  the  teacher,  supply 
exactly  this  opportunity.  This  is  at  least  true  for  those 
who  are  capable  and  willing  to  work. 


l6o  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

We  are  well  aware  that  objection  is  likely  to  be  raised 
against  supplying  teachers  with  these  fully  elaborated  and 
organized  units  of  study.  We  know  also  that  some  of 
these  objectors  are  making  poor  textbooks  which  are 
designed  to  lay  down  for  the  majority  of  teachers  both 
material  and  method  of  instruction.  Moreover  these 
textbooks,  even  the  best  of  them,  are  known  to  be  rela- 
tively meager  in  content,  not  one  quarter  as  rich  and  well 
developed  in  content  as  the  central  units  of  study  which 
we  have  been  discussing.  We  desire,  therefore,  to  give  a 
still  added  emphasis  to  the  great  task  of  this  preliminary 
selection  and  organization  for  the  benefit  of  the  teacher. 

The  large,  completed  unit  of  study,  expanded  into  a  full 
treatment,  organized  on  a  fundamental  line  of  thought,  and 
enriched  with  adequate  illustration,  settles  for  the  teacher, 
approximately,  three  important  questions : 

First,  the  general  scheme  of  organization  of  the  whole 
A  threefold  subject  on  the  basis  of  its  fundamental  idea, 
strengthen-  it  sets  forth  fully  the  meaning  and  value  of  this 

ing  of  the  .  . 

teacher's  central  idea,  and  its  larger  relations  to  kindred 
work  large  topics  in  the  course. 

Secondly,  it  has  determined  beforehand  and  broadly  the 
choice  and  arrangement  of  illustrative,  descriptive  details 
necessary  to  the  full  illumination  of  the  central  idea.  Two 
serious  obstacles  are  thus  removed  from  the  teacher's 
path,  one,  the  difficulty  of  collecting  suitable  original  data, 
and  the  other,  the  labor  of  grouping  wisely  this  rich  accumu- 
lation. This  arduous  task  has  been  completed  before  the 
work  of  actual  teaching  begins. 

Thirdly,  it  has  decided  mainly  the  extent  and  range  of 
correlation  with  interesting  topics  in  other  studies.  These 
cross-relations  with  other  school  subjects  are  important 


LARGER   LESSON  PLANNING  l6l 

and  illuminating.  The  full  significance  of  the  central 
idea  cannot  be  brought  to  light  without  paying  regard  to 
these  aspects. 

The  strenuous  effort  demanded  of  a  teacher  or  student 
in  the  struggle  to  organize  and  work  out  a  big  unit  with 
full  consideration  of  these  three  main  points  will  quickly 
bring  to  light  the  difficulty  and  complexity  of  the  task, 
for  example,  a  unit  of  study  like  the  framing  of  the  consti- 
tution in  1787,  the  development  of  our  post  office  system, 
the  reading  of  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  the  improvement 
of  navigation  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  Even 
much  smaller  topics  than  these  just  named  are  big  under- 
takings for  the  expert  organizer,  for  example,  the  White 
Mountains  as  a  summer  resort,  fruit  growing  in  Florida, 
Champlain's  first  exploring  trip  into  New  York,  the  old 
National  Road. 

The  value  to  the  teacher  of  such  well-organized,  com- 
pleted topics  is  not  merely  in  this  supply  of  information 
on  specific  topics  needed  in  the  teacher's  special  work, 
but  also  in  the  superior  standards  set  up  for  thinking  and 
for  organizing  thought  materials. 

The  task  of  fully  mastering  one  of  these  completed  stud- 
ies, one  of  these  clearly  organized  and  fully  elaborated 
projects,  is  found  to  be  no  small  undertaking  for 
the  teacher.     We  have  occasionally  tried  out  this  teacher's 


plan  on  a  class  of  mature  college  students.     When 
held  rigidly  for  a  thorough  knowledge  of  one  of  of  the  big 
these    prepared    topics,    such    mastery    as    any  ' 
teacher  would  need  in  handling  it,  they  fall  short.     They 
seem  to  have  encountered  unheard-of  requirements.     We 
are  trying  to  set  up  higher  standards  of  full,  masterly 
knowledge  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to  teaching. 


162  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

Now  it  will  be  admitted  that  the  complete  mastery  of 
the  large  unit  of  study  by  a  thorough  grasp  of  the  three 
kinds  of  knowledge  described  above  is  a  prime  requisite 
in  the  teacher's  preparation  for  the  classroom  work.  It 
demands  a  distinctive  and  superior  grade  of  scholarship, 
a  versatile  habit  of  thinking  which  can  grasp  large  prin- 
ciples and  minor  details.  It  requires  a  sharp  eye  for  facts, 
and  reflective  thought  which  can  group  the  facts  into  com- 
prehensive relations.  Free  play  of  the  imagination  must 
be  balanced  by  the  opposite  quality  of  accuracy  with  respect 
to  small  matters.  The  mastery  of  a  big  topic  such  as  the 
Muscle  Shoals  Project  or  the  use  and  development  of  great 
water  powers  or  the  growth  of  slavery  and  of  the  slave 
interest  sets  up  a  high  standard  of  practical,  scholarly 
thinking. 

As  a  guide  and  leader  in  thinking  processes  the  teacher 

needs  to  be  large-minded,  appreciative  of  children,  accurate 

and  full  in  scholarship,  discriminating  in  judg- 

The  teacher 

a  leader  in  ment  and  entirely  practical  and  well  balanced, 
minded  Such  a  mastery  of  his  subject  should  be  in  the 
scholarly  teacher's  mind  before  he  begins  to  outline  one 
lesson  or  a  series  of  lessons  in  detail  —  what  we 
may  call  minor  lesson  planning.  This  well-organized 
and  enriched  treatment  of  a  whole  central  topic  is  in 
itself  a  basal  lesson  plan,  not  a  formal,  skeletonized  plan, 
but  a  generous  and  well-arranged  collection  of  lesson 
material,  the  real  stuff  required  by  the  lessons  and  suitable 
to  the  needs  of  children.  Give  the  subject  itself  full  right 
of  way  to  unfold  in  its  richness  and  power  to  boys  and  girls 
and  you  have  a  good  plan,  not  formal  and  empty,  but  full 
of  content  and  meaning.  The  sharp  curtailment  of  big 
topics  with  respect  to  their  deeper,  fuller  content  is  the 


LARGER   LESSON   PLANNING  163 

bane  of  our  present  system  of  lesson  planning.  If  outline 
lesson  plans  are  supposed  to  take  the  place  of  knowledge, 
of  true,  rich  scholarship,  they  are  a  plain  fraud.  This  sort 
of  emptiness  should  be  relentlessly  exposed.  As  teachers 
we  should  practice  plain  honesty  in  matters  of  knowledge, 
and  not  for  a  pretense  set  up  outlines.  Empty,  condensed, 
abstract  statements  and  barren  outlines  are  the  Scylla 
and  Chary bdis  for  teachers  to  fear  and  avoid. 

If  teachers  are  to  be  gradually  trained  into  a  wise  fore- 
thought in  planning  lessons,  they  should  have  at  hand  for 
inspection  and  use  a  goodly  number  of  these  , 

Good  illus- 

well-prepared,    completely   elaborated   units   of  tratums 
study  as  first-class  specimens  of  such  completely  r 
organized  topics.     These  things  are  necessary,  if  teachers 
are  to  exercise  long-headed  wisdom  in  planning  out  cam- 
paigns of  study.     On  the  basis  of  such  a  preliminary  train- 
ing, teachers  should  then  learn  to  work  out  such  topics 
for  themselves  from  original  sources.     But  they  should 
have  time  to  learn  how  to  do  this,  and  good  examples  from 
the  hands  of  more  experienced  workmen. 

If   good   lesson  planning  depends  upon    the   preceding 
mastery  of  big  units  of  study,  fully  elaborated,  how  are 
teachers  themselves  to  be  convinced  of  the  full 
value  of  such  large  lesson  planning  ?     What  more  Hov^ train 

teachers  to 

convincing  proofs  could  be  given  than  first-class  the  concep- 
big  projects  as  examples?     Progressive  teachers  ia^ge°uiiits ? 
and  recent  texts  show  a  marked   tendency  to 
select  big  units  of  study  to  be  fully  developed.     Concen- 
tration upon  these  vital  topics  is  sound  in    theory,  but 
common  practice  runs  mainly  in  the  old    channels  with 
numerous    short-circuited    topics.     How    are    teachers    to 
make  the  transition  from  the  old  narrow  track,   over  to 


164  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

this  more  liberal  scheme  of  large  lesson  planning?  We 
need  and  must  have  strong,  clear-cut  demonstrations  of 
big  units  of  study  which  are  plainly  workable.  Mere  the- 
oretic statements  of  what  is  desirable  no  longer  satisfy 
teachers.  They  must  see  the  ideas  harnessed  up  to  school 
studies,  actual  topics  worked  out  as  demonstrations  of 
complete  organization.  We  have  been  often  told  and 
have  repeated  the  saying  for  a  generation  that  "Any 
teacher  can  work  up  these  topics  who  has  brains  and  in- 
dustry." We  are  now  looking  for  this  particular  brand  of 
"  brains  and  industry. "  The  time  has  come  for  the  theorist 
to.  step  asid4e  for  a  space  and  let  the  doer  march  to  the 
front.  We  have  a  hard  problem  to  work  and  we  shall  not 
solve  it  with  talk,  but  by  a  direct  frontal  attack  on  the 
large  objects  of  study.  The  classroom  is  an  inexorably 
practical  place  and  wants  no  shams.  It  demands  real, 
complete  topics,  not  pretentious  and  empty  outlines. 

We  need  genuine  knowledge  subjects  treated  in  a  mas- 
terly way.     We  may  first  set  ourselves  the  task  of  sifting 
out  the  school  studies  and  of  picking  out  the  cen- 

A  difficult 

practical  tral  units.  This  done,  we  shall  then  be  face  to 
face  with  the  laborious  and  yet  inspiring  task 
of  collecting  and  arranging  an  abundant  and  enriching 
knowledge  around  these  focal  points.  To  lay  out  the 
original  plan  for  a  big  teaching  unit  in  a  large  way,  to  col- 
lect from  reliable,  original  sources  the  necessary  data, 
and  to  shape  up  this  source  material  into  a  first-class 
descriptive  treatment  is  the  work  of  a  thoughtful,  scholarly, 
practical  organizer.  It  would  be  a  curious  and  unaccount- 
able mistake  to  throw  this  heavy  task  back  upon  mere 
beginners  in  the  art  of  teaching.  The  all-round,  finished 
expert  in  educational  work,  at  the  end  of  a  long,  rich  experi- 


LARGER   LESSON  PLANNING  165 

ence,  will  find  himself  none  too  well  prepared  for  this  seri- 
ous and  responsible  undertaking. 

It  would  be  a  far-seeing  plan  to  commission  some  of  our 
ablest  teachers,  of  broad  scholarship  and  ripe  experience, 
and  specialists  in  the  different  subjects,  to  give 

Set  trained, 

their  uninterrupted  time  and  labor  to  this  honor-  experienced 


able  task.  It  would  be  theirs  to  collect  and 
focus  this  copious  and  instructive  knowledge  upon  these 
upon  the  central  units  and  to  exhibit  the  results 
before  our  eyes,  objectively,  as  it  were,  in  the  shape  of 
complete  monographs  suitable  for  classroom  use.  Let 
this  process  of  selecting  and  organizing  topics  continue 
till  we  get  clearly  before  us  a  goodly  number  of  safe  and 
manifest  demonstrations  of  the  better  modes  of  organiza- 
tion. For  the  lack  of  such  examples  upon  which  young 
teachers  can  develop  their  notions  of  orderly  arrangement, 
we  are  not  making  much  progress  in  the  art  of  organiza- 
tion and  of  lesson  planning.  On  the  contrary  all  our 
young  teachers  are  being  systematically  trained  on  models 
of  organization  which  are  weak  in  the  two  funda-  Two  weak 
mentals  of  sound  thinking  and  good  teaching.  spots 
These  models  fail  first  to  emphasize  the  main  centers  of 
thought,  and  secondly,  they  are  markedly  deficient  in 
the  intensive,  enriching  elements  which  give  the  concrete 
background  to  central  ideas.  Our  teachers  are  following 
such  models  as  they  have  in  lieu  of  better  which  they  ought 
to  have.  Even  a  few  masterpieces  of  treatment  and 
organization,  if  appropriately  wrought  out  for  use  in  the 
grades,  would  awaken  and  hearten  teachers  with  a  sense 
of  reality.  If  we  could  see  a  few  strong  teachers  working 
out  such  units  in  a  masterly  way,  others  would  feel  like 
undertaking  it. 


1 66  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

In  other  vocations,  requiring  trained  experts,  the  leaders 

are  accustomed  to  accept  the  challenge  to  work  out  and 

deliver  masterpieces  of  their  art.     The  architect 

Other  voca-      ,    ,  ,  .        , 

tions  are  elaborates  his  plan  and  supervises  the  construc- 
"racticai  t*on  °*  a  Sreat  building.  The  surgeon  of  high 

repute  goes  into  the  operating  room  and  per- 
forms a  skillful  piece  of  surgery  and  then  discusses  it  with 
his  students.  The  lawyer  carries  his  case  through  all  the 
intricacies  and  vicissitudes  of  court  procedure.  The  agri- 
cultural expert  demonstrates  his  plan  of  cultivating  corn 
on  the  experiment  farm.  The  statesman  accepts  office 
and  tries  out  practical  schemes  of  political  reform.  The 
poet  has  even  the  boldness  to  publish  a  new  poem  to  run  the 
gauntlet  of  the  critics.  The  teacher  of  poetics  seldom  does ! 
The  master  among  teachers  should  be  one  who  has 
acquired  the  art  of  producing  these  complete,  well-balanced 

units  of  knowledge  suitable  for  use  in  classrooms. 
Leadership  jje  accepts  the  challenge  also  to  demonstrate  the 

in  this  art  of 

organizing  full  treatment  of  these  topics  in  the  classroom. 
needed8  Every  teacher  should  develop  this  kind  of  power 

and  the  sooner  the  better.  But  what  is  the 
process  of  teacher-training  through  which  this  ability  and 
expertness  are  to  be  acquired?  Certainly  not  by  random, 
haphazard  methods,  not  by  imitation  of  faulty  and  wrong 
methods,  but  by  a  systematic  training  in  the  study  and 
use  of  the  best  available  illustrations. 

In  training  young  teachers  we  should  gather  together  and 

make  a  study  of  completely  and  thoroughly 
training  on  organized  study  units.  In  the  mastery,  discus- 
the  basis  of  sion  ancj  use  of  these,  the  novices  will  become 

big  units 

familiar  with  the  principles  of  good  organization 
and  of  larger  lesson  planning.  On  this  basis  of  experi- 


LARGER   LESSON   PLANNING  1 67 

ence  in  dealing  with  such  topics  they  can  enter  later  upon 
similar  efforts  at  planning  and  organization.  It  is  a  diffi- 
cult art  and  one  into  which  the  developing  teacher  grows 
step  by  step  in  his  progress  toward  the  ideal. 

What  we  need  at  present  is  a  cooperative  effort  among 
experienced  teachers  to  produce  good  models  of  well- 
organized  knowledge  and  lesson  plans,  especially  with  ref- 
erence to  intermediate  and  grammar  grades.  We  should 
set  up  high  standards  of  practical,  professional  skill  ex- 
pressed in  the  tangible  form  of  complete  monographs  on 
units  of  study  suitable  to  the  character  and  understanding 
of  children. 

Two  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  this  discussion  of 
larger  lesson  planning. 

We  shall  not  get  much  first-class,  large-minded  planning 
of  instruction  until  our  knowledge  materials  are  cast  into 
the  larger  mold  of  big,  comprehensive  type-study  projects. 
The  reorganization  of  the  knowledge  materials  of  school 
studies  into  these  masterly  units  is  a  task  for  experienced 
teachers  and  ripened  scholars. 

If  children  are  to  become  self-reliant  thinkers  they  should 
have  a  chance  to  encounter  in  each  of  the  important  thought 
studies  a  series  of  these  large,  developing  problem-projects. 
They  should  take  up  into  their  thinking  the  full  energy 
of  one  of  these  purposive  ideas  which  pushes  forward  against 
obstacles  to  a  full  realization,  gathering  and  organizing 
abundant  and  fruitful  knowledge  in  its  natural  course. 


CHAPTER  X 

LARGE  TEACHING  UNITS  OR  PROJECTS  A  BROAD 
BASIS  FOR  INSTRUCTION 

A  LARGE  topic  which  is  a  progressive  organization  of 

valuable  knowledge  into  a  unit  of  purposive  thinking  may 

prove  a  natural  basis  for  classroom  instruction. 

A  standard    ^he  whole  working  out  of  the  Erie  Canal  Proi- 

umt  is  .  °  ... 

based  on  a  ect  is  such  a  unit  of  progressive  thinking.  We 
process"18  have  long  needed  such  standard  units  of  knowl- 
edge as  a  ground  for  classroom  instruction. 
Industrial  and  social  projects  in  the  active  world  and 
great  natural  phenomena  illustrate  this.  One  of  the  big 
steel  works  at  Pittsburgh  displays  a  monstrous  energy 
pushing  on  through  a  definite,  planned  process  of  reducing 
crude  ores,  first  to  pig  iron,  then  to  steel  ingots,  and  finally 
to  the  special  forms  used  for  constructive  purposes  in 
bridges,  machinery,  and  shipbuilding.  This  ongoing 
process,  as  a  complete,  rational  unit  of  effort,  supplies  the 
basis  for  a  plan  of  deliberate  study.  A  cyclonic  storm 
treated  as  a  whole  is  such  a  unit.  In  describing  the  course 
of  a  cyclonic  storm  as  diagramed  in  the  weather  maps, 
we  think  the  atmospheric  forces  organized  into  a  vast  whirl- 
ing movement  which  distributes  rain,  winds,  and  sunshine 
over  a  large  area  of  the  continent  according  to  a  plan  that 
can  be  foretold.  A  story  like  Theseus,  who  was  endowed 
with  the  purpose  of  slaying  the  Minotaur  and  of  freeing 
his  own  people,  has  in  it  such  an  energetic  thought-mo ve- 

168 


INSTRUCTION  BASED   ON  LARGE  UNITS  169 

ment  which  works  out  its  purpose  in  a  unit  of  effort.  The 
life  history  of  a  thousand-year  pine  is  such  a  growing,  and, 
as  it  were,  purposeful,  process  of  combining  material  forces 
to  produce  a  typical  tree  structure.  A  big  topic  should 
have  in  it  this  propulsive  power  of  a  strong  organizing 
idea  and  thus  can  furnish  a  basal  plan  for  the  development 
of  rational  thought. 

The  energy  embodied  in  a  growing,  purposive  idea  is 
often  shown  in  the  work  of  an  inventor.    His  mind  becomes 
absorbed  in  the  struggle  to  realize  his  idea.     The 
same  is  true  of  an  author  prepossessed  with  a  nai^cy" 
purpose  which  his  mind  is  bent  upon  realizing,  process  is  a 

.   i  •          •  i         i  .  1111    working  unit 

Dickens  is  said  to  have  been  in  an  absorbed  and  Of  effort  and 


highly  energized  mental  state  while  composing 
his  story  of  the  Christmas  Carol.  Every  big 
topic  ought  to  generate  in  teacher  and  pupil  this  progressive 
impulse  to  work  out  and  turn  into  use  some  idea  or  prin- 
ciple. Historical  projects  and  many  also  in  geography 
and  science  have  within  them  such  a  natural,  powerful 
impulse,  the  response  to  some  fundamental  need  or  push. 
The  westward  movement  of  population  in  the  United 
States,  illustrated  by  the  gold  seekers  in  '49,  demanded 
more  and  more  territory  and  gave  an  almost  settled  char- 
acter to  our  aggressive  westward  movement.  A  subject 
that  develops  and  organizes  its  materials  in  this  way  pro- 
vides its  own  method.  The  natural  growth  of  the  topic 
creates  its  own  process.  The  spirit  of  freedom  for  self- 
government  in  the  early  colonies  was  such  an  aggressive 
force.  Burke  calls  it  a  "fierce"  spirit  for  which  he  was 
willing  to  make  allowances.  It  organized  action  and 
produced  important  effects.  (See  Chapter  III.) 

The  thoughts  of  teachers  and  of  children  are  quick  to 


170  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

catch  the  drift,  and  move  effectively  along  the  track  of 
these  impulsive,  energetic  ideas  till  they  have  run  their 
course  and  have  worked  out  their  legitimate  and  intended 
results.  Such  a  topic  constitutes  a  working  unit  of  effort 
exerted  along  a  well-determined  course.  When  these 
dynamic  thought  processes  are  big  and  comprehensive  in 
their  organization  of  knowledge,  they  furnish  an  ideal 
basis  for  self-reliant  classroom  study. 

We  can  estimate  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  in  such 
an  effort  and  the  worth  of  the  results.  This  is  clearly 
proved  in  practical  projects,  such  as  the  building  of  a  rail- 
road, the  boring  of  a  mountain  tunnel,  the  planning  of  a 
battle,  and  the  building  of  a  dam  for  the  development  of  a 
water  power.  The  practical  schemes  that  are  worked  out  by 
man's  ingenuity  and  labor  are  of  this  aggressive,  construc- 
tive, almost  creative,  character,  furnishing  strong,  objective 
illustrations  of  the  very  kind  of  projects  that  are  employing 
men's  activities  and  satisfying  their  needs.  (See  Chapter  I.) 

By  transferring  these  outside,  pragmatic  projects  into 
the  school  to  be  used  as  substantial  parts  of  its  course, 
The  demand  we  satisfy  one  of  the  main  requirements  of  our 
for  problems  recent  pedagogy,  the  demand  for  problems,  for 
real,  practical  problems.  It  has  been  claimed  that  the  best 
kind  of  thinking  is  that  required  in  the  solution  of  problems, 
because  this  method  pits  the  mind  of  the  student  against 
difficulties.  It  forces  some  degree  of  self-reliance  and  inde- 
pendence in  thinking.  The  problem  calls  for  a  collection 
of  data  and  for  a  focusing  of  attention  upon  a  difficult 
situation  until  some  mode  of  escape  from  the  dilemma 
comes  into  view,  as  when  Washington  escaped  from  Corn- 
wallis  at  Trenton.  By  selecting  the  projects  undertaken 
by  engineers,  explorers,  and  promoters  in  the  industries 


INSTRUCTION  BASED   ON   LARGE   UNITS  If  I 

or  in  enterprises  for  social  betterment,  the  problems  of  life 
become  the  problems  of  the  school.    The  children  are  set 
to  thinking  these  problems  through,  under  life  conditions, 
meeting  the  difficulties  as  they  arise  or  have  arisen.    The 
plans  that  were  projected  and  later  followed  out 
in    constructing    the    Panama    Canal    are   put  j^spr°^e 
before  children  with  sufficient  data  to  make  them  become  the 
serve  as  problems.     Children  identify  themselves  ^°  Schooi° 
with  the  aims  and  efforts  of  the  canal  builders. 
In  a  way,  they  sense  those  experiences  in  their  own  minds. 
The  adventurous  pioneer  narratives  of  early  explorers  like 
Fremont,  Lewis  and  Clark,  Boone,  and  Champlain,  illus- 
trate many  such  trying  situations  where  children  can  feel 
the   real   pressure  of   the   hard   conditions  under  which 
these  men  struggled  and  achieved  their  successes. 

A  large,  practical  undertaking  organized  on  the  basis  of 
life  experience  is  found  frequently  to  be  not  a  single  prob- 
lem, but  a  whole  chain  of  problems.  It  is  a  peculiar  and 
striking  quality  of  these  projects  from  life  that  they  exhibit 
a  close  succession  of  trying  situations.  In  life  men  are 
always  competing  and  struggling  against  opposing  odds. 
Problems  are  in  the  natural  order.  Some  new  and  diffi- 
cult plan  is  being  worked  out,  like  the  laying  of  the  Atlantic 
cable,  and  it  meets  with  obstacles,  and  even  bitter  opposi- 
tion. As  the  children  follow  the  struggle  and  witness  the 
opposing  and  discouraging  facts,  the  problem  becomes 
acute  and  real.  In  such  cases  the  teacher  should  not  be 
in  haste  to  relieve  the  tension  and  to  explain  the  means 
used  to  secure  a  favorable  outcome.  Let  the  children 
struggle  with  this  situation  and  devise  means  of  escape. 
They  will  do  stronger  thinking  and  often  surprise  us  with 
the  shrewdness  and  aptness  of  their  suggestions. 


172  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

Most  historical  and  scientific  movements  as  well  as  indus- 
trial enterprises  are  of  this  problem-setting  and  problem- 
.  solving  character.     Every  new  tariff  is  an  effort 

Historic  and  .       J 

economic  by  Congress  to  readjust  the  tariff  schedule  to 
the  changed  conditions  and  sentiments  of  the 
people  —  a  hard  and  complicated  problem.  Every  in- 
coming legislature  attacks  new  tasks  in  legislation.  New 
social  and  economic  conditions  have  arisen  and  the  old 
problems  of  taxation  and  public  improvement,  of  repre- 
sentation and  of  woman  suffrage,  must  be  solved  again. 
In  other  words,  society  is  all  the  time  setting  up  new  aims 
and  working  at  their  solution.  The  school  may  well  imi- 
tate this  experimental  way  of  doing  things  and  work  out 
again  the  same  problems  that  society  has  had  to  deal  with 
before.  With  this  preparation  in  problem  work  the  chil- 
dren, when  grown  to  men  and  women,  will  be  the  better 
able  to  cope  with  the  old  problems  in  their  new  dress. 
Every  inventor,  as  Whitney  with  his  cotton  gin,  or  Morse 
with  his  telegraph,  is  trying  to  devise  a  new  method  or 
machine  for  doing  an  important  piece  of  work,  that  is,  he  is 
trying  to  solve  an  old  problem  in  a  new  way.  The  electric 
motor,  as  we  have  it,  is  the  outcome  of  a  long  series  of  prob- 
lems or  inventions  succeeding  one  another  in  a  natural 
order.  Inventors  are  problem-setters  and  problem-solvers. 
Children  in  the  schools  should  have  a  chance  to  press 
up  sharply  against  these  problems  and  at  least  try  their 
wits  at  a  solution.  The  facts  and  conditions 
lemi^the  which  bring  on  a  problem  must  be  clearly  pre- 
chiid'sop-  Sented  and  then  a  chance  offered  and  a  definite 

portunity 

stimulus  given  to  think  out  a  solution.  Real 
life  is  a  world  of  problems  and  children  may  well  learn  to 
grapple  with  just  such  situations.  This  is  accomplished 


INSTRUCTION   BASED  ON   LARGE   UNITS  173 

not  by  setting  up  unreal,  artificial  problems,  foreign  to 
life  and  reality,  but  by  using  the  workings  of  history  and 
the  developing  projects  of  real  life  in  commerce,  in  social 
and  industrial  affairs,  as  examples,  and  as  nearly  as  feasible 
in  the  original  form  and  feature  of  those  very  problems. 

Such  actual  projects  worked  out  with  fullness  give  us  a 
duplicate  of  life  and  a  feeling  for  the  realities  of  life  which 
constitute  a  sound  basis  for  further  study  along  the  same 
line.  Real  life  works  out  all  its  projects  in  the  concrete. 
It  teaches  by  example.  Then  on  the  basis  of  such  examples 
the  school  may  go  on  to  build  up  its  broader  concepts. 

The  large  projects  in  the  industrial  world  are  representa- 
tive. Study  one  great  newspaper  plant,  including  its  ways 
of  collecting,  printing,  and  sending  out  news, 

,  .  Projects  and 

and  you  have  the  idea  and  plan  upon  which  all  habits  of 


metropolitan  newspapers  operate.  Examine  one 
large  department  store  and  you  grasp  the  de-  thoughtful 
partment  store  idea  which  all  practice.  Study 
the  methods  of  a  large  city  hotel  and  hotel  life  in  general 
is  easily  interpreted.  A  short  cut  to  a  clear  and  full 
understanding  of  the  important  habits  or  ways  of  doing 
things  in  our  modern  society  is  obtained  through  a  careful 
and  adequate  study  of  a  few  main  situations.  Society 
performs  its  chief  functions  for  the  world  by  a  few  habitual 
ways  of  doing  things.  This  is  easily  demonstrated,  —  the 
travel  habit  on  railroads,  the  reading  habit  of  newspapers 
and  magazines,  the  dress  habit,  the  three-meals-a-day 
habit,  the  church-going  habit,  the  city-building  habit,  the 
shipbuilding  habit,  the  political  election  habit,  and  the 
school-going  habit.  Study  a  few  of  these  chief  habits  thor- 
oughly in  the  concrete,  and  you  understand  the  ways  of 
modern  life. 


174  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

We  were  just  saying  that  the  best  place  to  begin  these 
studies  is  life  itself,  that  is,  certain  big  sections  or  units  of 

life-activity  where  a  typical  process  is  demon- 
Life  itself  strated.  Society  is  kind  enough  to  teach  all 
thtTmdts  of  ner  g^^  lessons  objectively  and  typically  and 
study  the  school  has  only  to  reconstruct  these  object 

lessons  on  a  suitable  scale. 

The  school  by  its  instruction  can  also  do  another  very 
important  tiling.     It  can  point  out  other  similar  objects 

and  demonstrations,  that  is,  it  can  repeat  and 

The  school  ... 

can  expand    enlarge  its  instructions  and  make  comparisons 


in6  tCf  Ciif~  until  tne  specific  lesson  grows  into  a  rule  or  gen- 
eral principle,  a  truth  of  wide  application.  This 
is  known  among  the  pedagogues  as  inductive-deductive 
thinking.  The  school  of  life  teaches  by  induction  by  oft 
repeating  its  object  lessons,  and  by  deduction  or  constant 
application.  The  school,  however,  while  imitating  life  can 
do  better  than  life.  It  can  make  this  process  more  thought- 
ful, more  reflective,  and  more  comprehensive.  It  can  teach 
people  how  to  get  the  higher  thought  values  out  of  experi- 
ence. By  studying  these  types  taken  from  everyday 
experience  the  school  is  following  the  natural  order,  is 
strengthening  and  intensifying  the  teachings  of  the  real 
world.  It  is  practicing  a  strict  economy  by  dealing  only 
with  those  necessary,  fundamental  types  in  which  life  itself 
sets  the  chief  store. 

The  inductive-deductive  method  of  the  school  finds  its 
basis  in  the  inductive-deductive  method  of  life,  and  in  the 
derived  results  which  life  has  accumulated.  For  these 
results  are  not  abstractions,  but  object  lessons  and  ongoing 
processes,  still  actively  developing  and  representative  of 
the  forces  and  institutions  at  work  in  society.  Back  of 


INSTRUCTION   BASED   ON   LARGE   UNITS  175 

the  present  steam  engine  is  the  series  of  inventions  by  which 
the  steam  engine  has  been  brought  to  its  present  efficiency. 
Back  of  the  model  scientific  dairy  are  the  history 


and   processes   by  which   the   dairy   has   been  The 

of  life  be- 

developed  toward  perfection.     The  same  is  true  comes  the 
with  all  the  fundamental  processes  of  our  pres-  ^*  school 
ent-day  industry  and  of   political  life.     They 
have    been    growing    and    are   still    continuously    devel- 
oping.    The  school  should  swing  its  work  into  these  fun- 
damental   movements,    appropriate    them,    and   put   the 
children  in  position  to  keep  up  and  move  on  with  them  into 
the  future.     This  is  education  in  life,  through  life,  for  life. 
The  inductive-deductive   thought-movement  is  based  on 
practical  grounds  of  historical  development  as  well  as  on 
psychological  grounds.     Indeed  these  practical  demonstra- 
tions are  the  more  convincing. 

The  large  topic  favors  intensive  work  upon  each  impor- 
tant unit  of  study.     It  sets  a  high  estimate  upon  one  of 
these  topics  and  is  willing  to  spend  and  be  spent 
in  bringing  it  to  a  complete  realization.     An  Unitrequh-es 
elaborate  and  fruitful  treatment  of  such  a  topic  an  intensive 

*  .      treatment 

as  the  Mississippi  River,  or  the  purchase  of  Louisi- 
ana, or  the  coming  of  the  Puritans  to  New  England,  or 
the  growth  of  a  city  like  New  York,  is  worthy  of  our  fullest 
effort.  To  do  a  thing  of  this  sort  well  results  in  what  we 
may  call  a  masterpiece  of  organized  knowledge.  The 
better  elements  of  scholarship  and  the  better  modes  of 
thinking  come  into  play.  There  is  nothing  superficial 
or  fragmentary  in  such  an  effort.  It  sets  up  standards 
of  knowledge  and  of  organization  of  subject  matter  which 
are  of  supreme  value.  To  work  out  such  topics  success- 
fully sets  up  a  genuine  standard  of  craftsmanship,  and  such 


176  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

standards  are  indispensable  if  education  is  to  hit  the  mark 
instead  of  shooting  at  random. 

To  scatter  attention  over  a  multitude  of  subjects,  to 
get  a  smattering  of  this  or  that,  to  memorize  and  soon 
forget  miscellaneous  bunches  of  facts,  is  to  spend 
g      the  time  and  go  through  the  motions  of  teaching 


complete       |-)U^  j-0  make  little  permanent  progress.     Every 

achievement  .  . 

complete  topic  adequately  worked  out  in  the 
class  should  make  a  strong  and  permanent  impression, 
should  be  a  real  achievement,  known  and  felt  to  be  such 
by  the  children.  They  are  entitled  to  the  best  things, 
but  these  are  not  to  be  had  in  the  loose,  helter-skelter  fash- 
ion. We  should  learn  to  centralize  the  thought  of  children 
upon  conspicuously  important  topics,  objectively  large 
and  clear,  intensively  rich  and  fruitful. 

The  intensive  treatment  of  a  large  topic  by  which  it 

takes  on  this  richer  meaning  and  broader  scope  of  inter- 

pretation   requires    two    stages.      First    is    the 

First,  the 

descriptive  gathering  together  and  organization  of  the  con- 
crete and  descriptive  materials  which  give  a 
setting  and  background  to  the  main  idea,  as  in  the  study 
of  Washington.  A  study  of  the  Rhine  River  requires  a 
picturesque  and  descriptive  treatment,  reenforce'd  by 
photographs  or  stereographs  of  castles,  ruins,  vineyards, 
fortresses,  the  Lorelei,  the  old  walled  towns,  boats  and 
bridges,  monuments,  mountain  slopes,  etc.  These  in  turn 
are  made  more  lively  by  local  legends  and  stories  and  his- 
tory. Enlarged  maps  of  the  Rhine  shores  add  much  to 
the  defmiteness  and  character  of  the  whole  course  of  the 
journey  along  the  river.  Some  particular  castle  like  the 
Heidelberg  Schloss  is  studied  in  detail,  with  the  entire 
plan  of  the  old  courts,  walls,  and  adjacent  parks  and 


INSTRUCTION   BASED  ON   LARGE  UNITS  177 

grounds,  with  interior  views  and  the  various  styles  of  archi- 
tecture, the  towers,  the  chapel,  the  great  hall  and  cooking 
rooms,  the  moat  and  drawbridges,  the  big  wine  cask,  etc. 
By  these  various  means  we  seek  to  reproduce  the  detailed 
experience  of  the  real  sightseer,  who  goes  curiously  among 
such  places.  If  the  class  is  studying  Yellowstone  Park, 
we  expect  to  feature  these  picturesque  and  illustrative 
phases :  geysers,  canyons,  lakes,  hot  springs,  etc.  Like- 
wise in  the  story  of  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804-1805,  the  ex- 
citing narrative  of  hardship  and  adventure  taken  from  the 
diary  of  the  explorers  is  introduced  with  pictures  and 
maps.  The  Geographical  Magazine  with  its  superb  pictures 
illustrates  this  one  phase  of  geography  study.  Many  of 
our  textbooks  in  geography  and  geographical  readers 
contribute  richly  to  this  pictorial  mode  of  illustration. 
It  has  been  proposed  to  use  moving  pictures  extensively 
for  just  such  purposes,  and  if  these  pictures  are  arranged 
and  adapted  to  the  subject  matter  to  be  illustrated  they 
will  serve  well.  In  making  an  exhibit  of  a  cattle  ranch 
or  a  gold  mine  a  similar  fullness  of  description  with  pictures 
and  drawings  or  diagrams  or  maps  is  required  to  allow  the 
full  meaning  to  appear.  Biographies  of  explorers,  of 
inventors,  of  generals,  of  statesmen  are  made  fruitful  and 
valuable  by  narrative  or  anecdote  and  personal  traits  and 
individual  experiences. 

We  may  say  that  every  important  topic  in  any  subject 
requires  this  descriptive  background,  this  fullness  of  the 
concrete  and  objective.  The  more  important  the  central 
idea,  the  more  it  demands  a  fine  assortment  and  proper 
grouping  of  these  attendant  circumstances.  The  king 
and  queen  without  their  court  cannot  play  their  part. 
The  idea  without  its  setting  is  bare  and  meaningless. 


178  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

In  the  second  place,  a  large  topic  allows  time  and  ma- 
terial for  reflection,  for  thoughtful  retrospect  and  com- 
Se  ondi  parison,  for  a  study  of  causes  and  results, 
thereflec-  for  noting  strong  resemblances  and  contrasts. 
An  important  object  or  central  figure  must  be 
viewed  from  many  sides  or  at  least  from  several  angles. 
Mount  Shasta  presents  widely  different  aspects  as  seen 
from  different  sides.  The  ocean  in  repose  and  the  ocean 
in  storm  are  widely  contrasted  and  both  worth  seeing. 
The  bigness  and  importance  of  a  topic  are  measured  by 
the  variety  and  quality  of  its  important  relations,  by  the 
amount  of  quiet  thinking  it  can  generate.  Even  to  group 
and  organize  the  concrete  material  that  belongs  to  a  large 
topic  requires  time  for  thought.  A  large  iron  and  steel 
producing  factory  at  Pittsburgh  is  extensive  and  complex 
in  its  general  plan.  A  description  of  it  involves  a  series  of 
furnaces  and  mill  processes;  a  succession  of  workmen, 
managers,  and  inspectors.  But  when  this  whole  picture 
is  complete  the  relations  of  a  large  central  steel  plant  to 
the  ore  mines  in  Minnesota,  and  to  the  land  and  lake 
transportation,  to  the  coal  mines  which  supply  fuel,  and 
to  limestone  quarries,  supplying  lime  for  the  flux  of  ores, 
and  again,  the  distribution  of  the  finished  steel  to  building 
firms  in  cities,  to  steel-working  machine  shops,  and  to  rail- 
roads over  the  country  and  in  foreign  lands,  —  this  reflec- 
tive process  leads  on  and  on  till  the  steel  works  at  Pitts- 
burgh are  intimately  related  to  commerce,  to  large  house 
construction,  to  shipbuilding,  to  machine  shops,  to  rail- 
roads, and  to  all  the  industries  on  a  large  scale. 

This  reflective  process  is  a  means  of  developing  the  basal 
idea  in  a  big  topic  till  it  interprets  some  phase  of  industrial 
life  or  some  historical  movement  in  a  comprehensive, 


INSTRUCTION  BASED   ON   LARGE  UNITS  179 

even  world-embracing  fashion.  The  steel-producing  busi- 
ness is  one  of  the  biggest  enterprises  in  modern  industrial 
affairs.  To  study  a  large  steel  plant  at  Pitts-  Theworld. 
burgh  descriptively  and  then  to  compare  it  with  conquering 
other  like  works  at  Pittsburgh,  at  Birmingham,  8tage 
at  Gary,  at  Cleveland,  at  Chicago,  at  Baltimore,  is  to 
comprehend  the  bigness  and  importance  of  the  billion 
dollar  steel  trust,  as  it  has  been  called,  and  the  significance 
of  this  business  for  the  whole  country.  To  continue  the 
comparison,  later,  with  steel  production  in  England,  in 
Belgium,  or  in  Germany,  is  to  take  a  broad  world  view 
of  this  business.  To  note  that  less  progressive  nations 
like  Turkey,  China,  and  Persia  are  undeveloped  in  steel 
production  is  to  set  up  one  of  the  important  standards  of 
progress  and  efficiency  among  modern  nations,  a  stand- 
ard upon  which  we  may  measure  the  present  status  of 
nations. 

The  second  important  stage  in  all  big  topics  is  this  stage 
of  expansion  and  reflection  by  which  we  make  extensive 
comparisons,  trace  wide-reaching  causes,  and  draw  im- 
portant conclusions  for  the  future.  This  makes  edu- 
cation in  the  school  a  thought-developing,  world-building 
process. 

In  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  topics  for  the  entire 
curriculum,  we  shall  find  that  fundamental  ideas  develop 
continuously  through  the  course.     A  big    idea 
works  out  and  welds  together  a  chain  of  large  types  with 
units  or  types.     As  this  series  of  kindred  types  continuity  of 

thought 

develops,  comparisons  are  set  up  between  them. 
Through  such  comparisons  and  reviews  a  close  connection 
between  these  kindred  topics  is  organized  and  maintained 
until  the  whole  series  works  itself  out  as  one  consistent 


l8o  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

line  of  thought.  The  establishment  of  a  connecting  link- 
age between  these  successive  units  is  the  chief  means  of 
developing  that  continuity  of  thought  which  we  prize  so 
highly  but  seldom  get.  This  continuous  growth  of  a 
single  important  concept  through  a  succession  of  large 
types  contributes  to  an  extended  organization  of  knowl- 
edge throughout  the  school  course.  If,  for  example,  the 
Nile  River  is  being  studied,  a  comparison  is  made  between 
it  and  the  Mississippi  and  other  familiar  American  rivers, 
then  with  the  Rhine,  the  Danube,  and  perhaps  the  Indus 
and  Yangtse  and  other  rivers  so  as  to  discover  striking 
likenesses  and  contrasts.  The  Nile  has  great  floods  which 
spread  out  over  the  flood  plain ;  so  has  the  Mississippi 
River.  The  floods  along  the  Mississippi,  however,  are  kept 
under  control  by  levees  so  as  not  to  inundate  the  flood 
plain.  Why  this  difference,  this  peculiar  contrast?  The 
Nile  River  rises  in  great  lakes;  so  does  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Compare  them.  The  Nile  has  an  extensive  delta ;  so  have 
the  Mississippi,  the  Rhine,  and  the  Ganges,  but  not  the 
St.  Lawrence.  Why?  The  Nile  has  a  series  of  great 
cataracts.  What  has  the  Mississippi  or  Missouri  or  St. 
Lawrence  to  compare  to  this  ?  The  Nile  is  a  great  historic 
river.  What  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Rhine,  the  Hudson, 
the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  the  Indus,  and  the  Yangste? 
The  Nile  traverses  an  arid  and  desert  region;  compare 
it  with  the  Colorado ;  contrast  it  with  the  Amazon.  The 
English  have  established  a  great  irrigation  dam  and  con- 
trolling works  at  Assuan  on  the  lower  Nile ;  compare  this 
with  the  irrigation  projects  on  the  Snake,  the  Columbia, 
the  Rio  Grande ;  also  compare  with  the  irrigation  along 
the  Indus  and  the  Ganges  in  India,  and  with  the  Grand 
Canal  in  China. 


INSTRUCTION   BASED   ON   LARGE   UNITS  l8l 

Such  comparison  leads  to  a  thoughtful  and  surprisingly 
fruitful  review.  It  brings  into  prominence  important 
facts  not  thought  of  before.  It  impresses  the  organizing 
mind  with  notable  contrasts  and  likenesses  and  reviews 
stimulates  to  an  explanation  of  the  causes  of  differences. 
Such  reviews  sift  out  and  organize  knowledge.  They  do 
more  than  merely  repeat  facts.  They  call  for  reasons. 
They  work  out  general  notions  by  discovering  similar 
causes  producing  like  results,  and  striking  differences 
due  to  recognizable  causes.  In  other  words,  such  reviews 
generate  thought  of  the  best  quality.  The  old-fashioned 
static  review,  which  goes  over  the  same  facts  again  and 
again,  and  by  sheer  drill  and  repetition  tries  to  fix  them  in 
memory,  is  a  poor  and  feeble  instrument  of  study,  lacking 
in  thought  and  wasteful  of  time  and  energy,  a  mind-dulling 
rather  than  a  thought-producing  process. 

By  following  this  plan  of  a  developing  series  of  types  in 
which  all  later  topics  are  regularly  compared  with  similar 
topics  previously  studied  in  the  same  series,  we 

..  .  ,  .  Construc- 

can  dispense  largely  with  mere  static  reviews,  tive,  organ- 

with  tedious  repetitions  and  drills  in  which  no  mngrei 
new  ideas  appear.  Many  of  our  courses  of  study  show  a 
large  consumption  of  time  in  these  dry  and  unprofitable 
reviews.  Such  comparing  reviews  on  the  contrary  are  full 
of  interest  and  of  new  interpretations.  Facts  thus  organized 
do  not  drop  easily  from  the  memory.  They  have  been 
tied  up  in  too  many  significant  connections  with  valuable 
centers  of  thought  to  be  lost.  By  this  growing  and  organ- 
izing process  knowledge  becomes  a  permanent  possession. 
It  becomes  identified  with  the  very  structure  and  organiza- 
tion of  the  mind  itself.  The  common  complaint  that 
children  forget  three  fourths  of  what  they  learn  is  a  sharp 


182  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

criticism  of  our  whole  method  of  study.  If  knowledge  is 
gained  by  a  process  of  growth  and  organization  there  is 
no  reason  why  the  important  things  learned  should  be  for- 
gotten. We  naturally  and  properly  forget  those  facts  that 
have  no  holding  qualities,  no  permanent  interpretative 
value.  It  is  quite  customary  to  admit  that  children  forget 
quickly  the  far  greater  part  of  what  they  so  tediously 
learn.  This  is  not  a  necessary  result  if  knowledge  is  prop- 
erly organized  and  assimilated  as  it  comes  into  the  mind, 
if  we  are  constantly  looking  back  and  reviewing  by  thought- 
ful comparison,  if  we  find  a  life  basis  and  a  life  connection 
for  our  thoughts.  The  static  reviews  that  are  sometimes 
provided  in  history  and  geography  are  very  blunt  instru- 
ments of  study.  They  produce  a  feeble  result  in  a  slow 
and  fumbling  way,  with  a  forced  and  tiresome  or  jaded 
effort.  They  accomplish  a  minimum  result  with  a  maxi- 
mum expenditure  of  effort,  and  the  results  fade  away  into 
forge  tfulness. 

It  has  been  demonstrated  in  a  variety  of  large  topics  in 
history  and  geography  that  a  vigorous  continuity  of  thought 
on  the  basis  of  big  stepping  stones  of  knowledge  can  be 
worked  out  and  that  experience  thus  organized  becomes 
the  strong  and  enduring  framework  of  a  child's  knowledge. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  correlation  of  studies, 

their    intercommunication,    and    their    mutual    support. 

The  large  unit  of  study  which  provides  for  a 

Vital  rela- 
tions be-        many-sided  and  extensive  treatment  of  a  topic 

tween  js   inevitably   a   strong   agency   in   establishing 

close  and  numerous  relations  between  studies. 
Big  topics  do  not  respect  the  artificial  boundaries  between 
studies.  The  roots  and  branches  of  every  commanding 
unit  spread  out  into  several  so-called  studies.  A  good 


INSTRUCTION   BASED   ON   LARGE   UNITS  183 

history  story  like  Magellan  or  La  Salle  is  a  combination  of 
history,  geography,  and  science  and  without  effort  always 
a  fruitful  field  for  language.  Four  great  studies  come 
together  and  enrich  and  support  one  another  in  such  a 
topic.  The  biography  of  a  man  like  Franklin  is  a  still 
broader  and  richer  combination.  Literature,  science, 
history,  language,  social  and  industrial  projects,  states- 
manship, all  fields  of  human  interest  are  brought  together 
and  closely  identified  with  his  personal  interests  and 
character. 

Practical  topics  which  take  firm  hold  on  life  have  this 
strong  combination  of  materials,  this  wide  range  of  real 
and    essential    connections.     The    farmer,    the 
lawyer,  the  merchant,  the  banker,  the  inventor  t0pics  ^g 


shows  this  wide  reach  and  variety  of  interests  in 

many-sided 

his  business.  The  newspaper  deals  with  this 
universal  range  and  intercommunion  of  topics.  Only 
the  schoolmaster  thinks  he  is  free  to  limit  himself  narrowly 
in  the  treatment  of  subjects.  He  sometimes  sets  up  small 
boundaries  between  subjects  and  shuts  himself  and  the 
children  almost  within  prison  walls.  Robinson  Crusoe 
is  a  man  who  deals  with  all  phases  of  life,  geography  and 
climate,  nature  and  agriculture,  the  Bible  and  other  lit- 
erature, savages  and  civilized.  Crusoe  is  a  good  study 
for  children  because  of  the  wide  range  of  his  interests  and 
projects.  This  is  true  with  Hiawatha,  Ulysses,  and  Gulli- 
ver. Big,  fruitful  topics  are  far-reaching  in  their  relations 
and  in  treating  them  we  should  take  time  to  work  out  and 
evaluate  these  connections.  Such  topics  thus  gain  in 
breadth  and  fullness  and,  so  long  as  the  central  unity  of 
each  topic  is  maintained,  there  is  little  danger  of  looseness 
and  shallowness.  The  correlation  of  studies  will  there- 


184  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

fore  take  good  care  of  itself  if  we  provide  the  right  sort  of 
big  topics  for  study  and  learn  how  to  treat  them  in  a  full, 
expansive,  organizing  way. 

A  standard  and  oft-recurring  criticism  of  our  studies  is 

that  they  become  stereotyped.    They  tend  strongly  to  grow 

fixed  into  a  so-called  logical  outline  of  facts,  a 

Criticism  of    .     .    -  ,  ..    ,  ... 

a  formal  brief  summary  of  essentials  or  principles  express- 
outline  of  mcr  the  logical  conclusions  of  the  adult  mind. 

studies 

These  are  memorized  and  wrought  into  the  men- 
tal habits  of  children  by  a  process  of  reviews  and  drills. 
The  objection  to  all  this  from  the  side  of  educational  critics 
and  reformers  is  that  these  matured  judgments  and  sum- 
maries of  the  adult  mind  do  not  fit  the  growing  child  mind. 
They  may  express  the  final  results  of  the  process  of  educa- 
tion, but  they  do  not  fit  into  the  developing  process  itself. 
They  are  not  psychological.  They  are  arbitrarily  imposed 
upon  the  child's  mind  by  an  outside  authority  and  they 
do  not  fit  his  way  of  thinking  and  his  natural  mental  move- 
ments. To  put  on  one  of  these  ideas  is  like  the  small  boy 
trying  to  wear  his  father's  greatcoat.  It  is  grotesque. 

Our  present  mode  of  teaching   is  particularly  exposed 
to  this  criticism.     In  some  of  our  large,   well-established 

city  and  state  systems,  a  prevailing  and  strongly 
statiTfiied  marked  uniformity  of  material  and  method  has 
outline  and  been  worked  out  and  stereotyped.  Our  present 
essentials  curriculum,  overcrowded  with  studies  (new  and 

old) ,  with  a  wide  range  and  variety  of  topics  in 
all  studies,  is  forced  more  and  more  into  an  outline,  a  sum- 
mary of  essentials,  a  digest.  This  digest  becomes  in  time 
a  sort  of  sacred  thing  which  teachers  call  the  "minimum 
essentials"  of  a  course.  Such  a  static,  immobile  course 
loses  what  elasticity  it  may  originally  have  and  tends 


INSTRUCTION   BASED   ON   LARGE   UNITS  185 

strongly  to  become  a  fixed  routine  for  both  teachers  and 
pupils. 

A  course  of  study  made  up  of  a  few  well-selected,  large 
units  of  subject  matter,  rich  and  copious  in  treatment,  can- 

not be  reduced  to  a  mere  outline,  cannot  be  corn- 

Big,  fruitful 
pressed  into  a  dull  and  lifeless  summary.     Such  topics  pie- 

big,    expanded    topics,    strong    in    stimulating, 


concrete  thought  matter,  are  not  a  good  basis  for  cramping 
mechanical  methods.  Complete  units  of  study 
well  wrought  out  are  like  first-class  stories  and  poems, 
such  as  the  King  of  the  Golden  River,  the  Pied  Piper  of 
Hamelin,  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  Robert  Bruce.  They  are 
so  real,  so  vital  and  intense  in  their  concrete  impersona- 
tions that  there  is,  fortunately,  no  way  of  reducing  them 
to  skeleton  outlines.  A  teacher  must  be  unusually  dull 
and  stupid  who  manages  to  take  the  life  and  spirit  out  of 
such  stories  and  make  them  dull  and  tiresome.  It  is  this 
stimulating  and  inspiring  quality  of  big,  fruitful  topics  which 
we  wish  to  preserve  against  all  encroachment  of  mechani- 
cal and  routine  methods.  The  course  of  study  as  we 
actually  know  it  in  many  schools  shows  a  clear  tendency 
to  become  stiff  and  cramped  and  formal;  not  so  much 
because  teachers  and  superintendents  desire  such  a  result, 
but  because  the  pressure  of  numerous  studies  and  a  con- 
stantly increasing  number  of  topics  inevitably  force  us 
into  a  summarizing  method. 

Now  as  to  the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  teacher 
in  dealing   with   big   topics  !     Such   an   enriched,   fruitful 
topic  developing  a  strong,  central  line  of  thought 
and  spreading  out  in   important  cross-connec-  and  freedom 
tions  throws  the  door  wide  open  for  a  large  free- 
dom of  method  in  the  details  of  teaching.     In  the  first 


1 86  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

place,  a  richly  concrete  and  descriptive  knowledge,  having 
valuable  connections  and  correlations  with  other  subjects, 
tempts  strongly  to  variety  and  individuality  in  mode  of 
treatment.  A  live  teacher  can  hardly  handle  such  a  many- 
sided  subject  twice  in  the  same  way.  While  the  main 
progress  of  thought  develops  along  a  definite  and  well- 
defined  route,  discussion,  question,  and  individual  inter- 
pretation are  free  and  many-sided.  The  one  thing  the 
teacher  should  hold  to  is  the  natural,  organic  growth  and 
sequence  of  thought,  and  in  big  topics  this  central,  growing 
thought  stands  out  so  conspicuously  that  it  commands 
attention  and  soon  brings  the  wanderer  back  from  too 
much  side-stepping.  The  depth  and  variety  of  thought 
in  the  liberal  treatment  of  a  large  topic  forbids  a  narrow 
routine  of  method. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  teacher  can  lose  her  freedom 
and  reduce  the  descriptive  parts  of  one  of  these  interesting, 
instructive  topics  to  a  severe  formal  drill.  Some  teachers 
doubtless  have  an  unusual  ability  in  putting  a  damper 
upon  interesting  and  vital  topics,  but  this  can  hardly  be 
assigned  as  a  reason  for  dropping  out  fruitful,  instructive, 
and  well-developed  topics.  Like  a  story  of  Robin  Hood, 
or  Sinbad  the  Sailor,  or  Gulliver,  a  growing,  expanding 
subject  awakens  interest  and  sets  the  thoughts  in  motion. 
Nor  can  such  a  topic  run  the  teacher  and  pupils  into  a 
blind  hole  from  which  there  is  no  exit.  The  topic  develops 
more  and  more  into  light  and  freedom,  and  expands  into 
its  full  meaning. 

In  the  later  expansion  of  one  of  these  large  topics  through 
comparison  and  wider  thought  relations  both  teacher  and 
children  are  set  to  thinking  on  a  higher  level  in  an  inde- 
pendent way.  Compare  the  delta  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 


INSTRUCTION   BASED   ON   LARGE   UNITS  1 87 

and  its  shallow,  obstructed  passages  with  the  broad,  deep 
estuary  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Why  this 
striking  difference  in  our  two  great  rivers? 
Such  questions  cannot  be  answered  through  thinking™ 
memory  drills.  They  call  for  an  explanation  of  onj^broad 
the  causes.  They  open  the  door  to  freedom  of 
thought  and  originality  of  treatment,  to  investigation  of 
facts  and  to  inquiry  into  larger  data.  The  commerce  of 
the  Great  Lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence  is  badly  ob- 
structed at  the  very  center  by  the  huge  Falls  of  Niagara, 
and  yet  the  Mississippi,  with  no  falls  and  unlimited  navigable 
waters,  has  much  less  shipping  than  the  Great  Lakes. 
Why  this  result?  Such  comparisons  and  contrasts  set  up 
new  trains  of  thought.  They  discover  and  intensify  mean- 
ings. The  reasoning  processes  involved  in  these  large 
topics  demand  deliberation  in  finding  causes  and  in  weigh- 
ing and  measuring  values  on  the  basis  of  definite  standards. 
There  is  a  continuous  thoughtful  development  and  ongoing 
organization  of  knowledge  materials.  The  discussion  of 
such  points  develops  freedom  of  thought  and  a  versatile 
power  of  readjustment  to  new  facts  and  conditions.  These 
larger  units  of  instruction,  when  once  fully  developed 
and  rounded  out,  become  in  time  important  standards  for 
the  measurement  of  later  topics  and  series  of  topics.  How 
can  these  growing  topics  be  handled  at  all  without  doing 
considerable  thinking,  without  developing  freedom  and 
self-reliance  in  teachers? 

For  progressive  teachers  the  large  units  of  study  furnish 
an  opportunity.  Each  year  as  one  of  these  topics  is  taught 
again  it  can  be  further  modified,  elaborated,  and  enriched. 
The  reference  and  source  books  suggested  in  connection 
with  each  big  topic  open  up  kindred  but  new  and  develop- 


1 88  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

ing  fields   of   knowledge  for  supplementary  study.     Still 
other  reference  books,  maps,  and  illustrative  materials  can 

be  collected  and  organized  into  the  treatment 
of  bigTopics  of  the  subject.  The  chief  idea  at  the  basis  of 
from  year  to  tne  tOpic  js  a  growing  one,  operative  in  the  world 

on  a  large  scale  and  all  the  time  modifying  and 
enlarging  its  scope  and  influence  in  practical  affairs.  It  is 
indeed  a  world  topic  based  on  a  constructive  principle  in 
human  experience.  The  steady  pursuit  of  such  growing 
topics  from  year  to  year  opens  an  opportunity  for  larger 
freedom  and  effectiveness.  It  means  professional  growth 
and  independence  of  the  best  sort.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
static  course  of  study,  consisting  of  a  given  set  of  facts 
and  formulae,  to  be  memorized  and  drilled  in,  stops  growth 
in  the  teacher  and  leads  with  certainty  to  a  more  or  less 
fixed  mechanical  routine. 

The  conclusion  that  may  be  drawn  from  this  entire 
discussion  is  that  the  large,  elaborately  organized  teaching 

unit  furnishes  a  sound   basis  for  classroom  in- 

Conclusion  . 

struction.  It  lays  down  a  general  plan  for  a 
scholarly  and  efficient  treatment  of  important  subjects 
in  full  accord  with  the  recognized  principles  of  good  teach- 
ing. Without  some  such  matured  plan  for  the  intensive 
treatment  of  the  central  units  of  study,  instruction  scatters 
and  runs  to  waste  or  it  follows  dried-up  channels. 

For  a  complete  illustration  see  the  Panama  Canal,  in 
Type  Studies  and  Lesson  Plans,  published  at  George  Pea- 
body  College. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION 

OUTLfNE 

1.  The  Rain  Belt  and  the  Dry  Belt. 

2.  Government  Irrigation  and  the  Law  of  1002. 

3.  The  Salt  River  Valley.     Water  Supply. 

4.  The  Government  Survey.    Location  of  Dam  and  Lake. 

5.  A  Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Valley. 

6.  Remote  Location  of  the  Dam.     The  Canyon  Road. 

7.  The  Preliminary  Problems,  Cement  Mill,  Sawmill,  and  Power 

Plant. 

8.  Construction  of  the  Roosevelt  Dam. 

9.  The  Granite  Reef  or  Diversion  Dam. 

10.  The  Two  Large  Trunk  Canals. 

11.  How  Water  Is  Brought  to  the  Fields. 

12.  Truck  Farming  and  Fruit  Growing,  Alfalfa,  etc. 

13.  Large  Expense  to  Settlers  in  the  First  Years. 

14.  Size  and  Cost  of  the  Salt  River  Project. 

15.  Large  Western  Rivers  Used  for  Irrigation. 

1 6.  The  Minnedoka  and  Twin  Falls  Projects. 

17.  The  Shoshone  and  Rio  Grande  Projects. 

1 8.  Salt  Lake.     The  Truckee-Carson  Project. 

19.  A  Fundamental  Type  with  Wide  Variations. 

20.  The  High  Mountains  and  River  Systems. 

21.  The  Demand  for  Intelligent,  Thrifty  Settlers. 

22.  The  Reclamation  Law  of  1902.   Need  of  Government  Control. 

23.  Important  Agencies  in  Developing  Irrigation. 

24.  Irrigation  by  Pumping  from  Wells. 

25.  Irrigating  Rice  Fields  in  the  Southern  States. 

26.  Future  Extent  and  Importance  of  Irrigation. 

27.  Egypt  and  the  Nile  Floods.     The  Assuan  Dam. 

28.  Irrigation  in  India.     China.     Peru  and  Mexico. 

189 


1 90  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

Those  of  us  who  live  in  regions  of  abundant  rainfall 
do  not  realize  that  large  parts  of  our  own  country  are  either 
deserts  or  without  sufficient  rain  to  produce  crops.  In 
the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States  we  depend  upon  the 
natural  rainfall  to  supply  moisture  for  growing  crops. 
But  in  the  dry  western  regions  water  is  often  drawn  from 
rivers  and  led  by  ditches  out  upon  the  dry  land  to  make  it 
productive. 

Even  in  the  rainy  belt  we  sometimes  have  dry,  hot 
seasons  which  scorch  the  growing  crops  and  do  much 
damage.  Our  gardeners,  to  protect  themselves  against 
such  losses,  sometimes  water  their  fields  from  tanks  or 
reservoirs  by  means  of  ditches,  or  they  have  overhead 
pipes  which  spray  the  plants  in  the  field.  In  cities  and 
towns,  during  hot,  dry  weather,  we  often  water  our  lawns 
and  gardens.  The  farmers,  however,  whose  fields  are 
too  large  to  be  watered,  try  to  preserve  the  moisture  in  the 
soil  by  pulverizing  the  top  layer  of  earth,  by  frequent  plow- 
ing or  harrowing,  thus  preventing  evaporation.  But  in 
dry  or  partly  desert  countries,  it  is  necessary  to  construct 
expensive  systems  of  irrigation  for  watering  the  land. 

In  recent  years  the  government  of  the  United  States  has 
undertaken  a  number  of  great  projects  for  irrigating  large 
tracts  of  arid  land  in  the  West.  During  previous  years 
many  irrigating  ditches  had  been  taken  out  along  the 
rivers  of  arid  states  by  farmers  and  by  smaller  and  larger 
private  ditch  companies.  But  there  were  some  great 
reclamation  projects  that  required  such  a  vast  outlay  of 
money  that  private  companies  would  hardly  undertake 
them.  A  law  was  passed  by  Congress  in  1902  by  which 
the  government  of  the  United  States  provided  a  large  sum 
of  money,  obtained  from  the  sale  of  public  lands  in  the 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  191 

West,  which  was  to  be  spent  in  surveys  for  determining 
the  best  sites  for  irrigation  projects  and  in  constructing 
dams,  reservoirs,  and  ditches  for  direct  irrigation  of  these 
lands  chosen.  A  few  of  these  large  irrigation  schemes 
have  already  reached  completion,  and  others  are  under 
construction. 

One  of  these,  the  Salt  River  Project,  we  will  describe 
in  full. 

The  Salt  River  comes  down  from  the  slopes  of  the 
White  Mountains  in  eastern  Arizona,  which  are  about 
twice  as  high  as  those  of  the  same  name  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. Before  joining  the  Gila  River,  its  valley  widens 
out  into  a  flat,  gently  sloping  plain  girt  in  with  mountains. 
This  broadened  portion  of  the  valley  is  very  dry  and  hot, 
but  it  has  a  productive  soil,  and,  when  supplied  with  water 
in  the  summer  season,  produces  abundant  crops.  A  little 
farther  down  the  valley  are  the  cities  of  Phcenix,  the  capital, 
and  Tempe.  Here,  then,  is  an  ideal  spot  upon  which  to 
undertake  a  plan  for  irrigation. 

The  Salt  River  has  also  a  good  water  supply.  The 
White  Mountains,  from  which  its  headwaters  spring, 
are  high  enough  to  receive  heavy  snows  in  winter  brought 
by  the  regular  moist  winds  from  the  Pacific.  During  the 
winter  season  these  mountains  become  covered  with 
snows  many  feet  deep  and  serve  as  natural  reservoirs. 
In  the  warm  sun  of  early  spring  in  this  southern  climate, 
the  snows  melt  away  and  fill  the  valley  with  floods.  But 
these  floods  pass  off  downstream,  and  in  the  middle  and 
late  summer  little  water  is  to  be  had.  The  first  great  prob- 
lem was  how  to  store  up  the  flood  waters  and  hold  them  in 
check  till  needed  for  irrigating  the  dry  lands  of  the  valley 
in  midsummer. 


1 92  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

The  government  engineers  of  the  Reclamation  Service 
had  made  a  careful  survey  of  the  Salt  River  Valley  from 
its  sources  in  the  mountains,  including  its  tributary  streams, 
its  spring  floods,  climate,  forests,  and  other  resources. 
They  decided  as  a  result  of  this  careful  study  that  the  Salt 
River  Valley  would  be  an  excellent  place  to  try  out  their 
plan  of  irrigation  on  a  large  scale.  It  would  involve  the 
building  of  an  immense  dam  across  the  valley,  at  large 
expense,  for  impounding  the  surplus  spring  waters.  Up 
the  river  from  Phoenix  is  the  above-mentioned  broadened 
valley.  This  land  slopes  back  gently  toward  the  moun- 
tains on  both  sides  of  the  river  and  supplies  a  large  area 
suitable  for  irrigation.  A  survey  of  this  extensive  valley 
revealed  about  240,000  acres  of  good  soil  which  would 
bear  heavy  crops  if  water  in  sufficient  quantity  could  be 
secured.  In  fact,  some  of  this  land  had  been  irrigated 
for  many  years  and  was  exceedingly  productive.  With- 
out a  supply  of  water  for  irrigation,  this  tract  was  almost 
worthless.  With  an  adequate  water  supply,  it  would 
leap  into  great  values  and  become  the  home  of  thousands 
of  thrifty  farmers  and  would  even  develop  villages  and 
towns. 

About  sixty-two  miles  up  the  valley  from  Phoenix 
they  found  a  spot  where  the  river  had  cut  a  deep  gorge 
through  the  mountains.  At  this  narrow  place  the  engi- 
neers decided  to  build  a  dam  which  would  create  a  lake  in 
the  valley  above.  The  upstream  portion  of  the  valley, 
being  wider,  would  permit  the  formation  of  a  lake  twenty- 
five  miles  long  and  from  one  to  two  miles  wide.  Once 
filled  with  flood-waters,  such  a  lake  would  supply  a  large 
reserve  for  purposes  of  irrigation. 

A  bird's-eye  view  of  this  river  valley  as  furnishing  oppor- 


THE   SALT  RIVER   PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  193 

tunity  for  irrigation  on  a  grand  scale  deserves  our  careful 
attention.  The  lower  part  of  the  valley,  including  the 
best  farm  lands,  is  a  hot  and  dry  desert.  But  a  hundred 
fifty  miles  to  the  east,  the  high  mountains  serve  as  a  reser- 
voir for  collecting  the  winter  snows  and  spring  rains.  By 
means  of  a  large  dam  in  its  middle  course  the  spring  floods 
from  the  mountains  could  be  caught  and  held  in  check  till 
the  dry  summer  time.  The  broad  valley  of  the  lower  course 
might  receive  this  refreshment  during  the  long  summer 
season,  and  the  near-by  cities  of  Phcenix  and  Tempe  would 
supply  a  good  market  for  the  products  of  this  region  of 
gardens  and  farms. 

Such  a  large  enterprise  as  this  for  reclaiming  arid  or 
desert  lands  demands  wise  and  experienced  forethought, 
not  only  in  the  preliminary  survey  and  plan  of  the  entire 
project,  but  also  in  its  energetic  and  careful  execution.  It 
would  cost  several  millions  of  dollars  to  work  out  the  plan, 
and  if  successful,  it  will  last  for  hundreds  of  years,  and 
furnish  homes  to  thousands  of  families.  It  was  a  govern- 
ment enterprise,  planned  and  carried  through  by  expert 
government  engineers  of  the  Reclamation  Service. 

The  largest  engineering  problem  of  the  whole  project 
was  the  construction  of  the  Roosevelt  Dam  across  the 
narrow'  gorge  which  was  to  gather  and  hold  back  the  waters 
of  the  lake.  The  site  of  this  proposed  dam  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  rugged  mountainous  region,  far  removed  from  roads 
and  very  difficult  of  approach  with  supplies.  Before 
beginning  the  work  on  the  dam,  it  was  necessary  to  con- 
struct houses  for  the  workmen,  gather  tools  and  supplies, 
provide  men  and  machinery,  and  to  establish  roads  and 
telephone  connections  with  the  outside  world. 

The  construction  of  an  easy,  substantial  road  up  the 


194  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

rough  mountain  valley,  connecting  Phcenix  with  the  settle- 
ment at  the  dam,  was  first  to  be  provided.  The  cities  of 
Phcenix  and  Tempe  raised  a  subscription  of  #75,000  for 
the  building  of  this  road.  It  was  laid  out  through  a  very 
difficult  mountainous  country,  along  the  steep,  rocky 
sides  of  the  river  gorges.  Its  scenery  is  wild,  like  that  of 
the  great  river  canyons  of  Arizona.  The  Apache  Indians 
from  their  reservation  came  in  and  offered  to  help  in  its 
construction.  At  first  they  were  not  strong  and  skillful 
workers.  But  when  well  fed,  and  better  trained  to  this  kind 
of  labor,  they  proved  efficient  workmen  and  were  paid  the 
same  wages  as  white  men. 

In  the  construction  of  the  dam  a  large  amount  of  cement 
and  concrete  material  was  needed.  The  cost  of  hauling 
this  material  from  Phcenix,  after  being  shipped  in  from  a 
distance,  proved  so  great  that  a  cement  mill  was  built 
near  the  dam,  where  cement-making  material  had  been 
found.  An  immense  amount  of  lumber  and  wood  was 
required  for  the  scaffolding  and  cement  forms  used  in  the 
dam  construction,  and  also  for  bunk-houses  and  other 
structures  in  the  village  of  Roosevelt  near  the  works.  On 
the  mountain  slopes  near  by,  forests  of  pine  were  fortu- 
nately growing.  Here  sawmills  were  at  once  erected  for 
supplying  wood  and  lumber.  In  order  to  secure  an  electric 
plant  which  would  furnish  power  for  the  cement  mill,  for 
the  machines  used  in  dam  construction,  and  for  later  pump- 
ing purposes  in  the  valley  below,  it  was  decided  to  build 
a  canal  twenty  miles  long  which  would  generate  5000 
horse  power.  Twenty  miles  above  Roosevelt,  a  small 
dam  was  built  and  from  this  a  high-line  canal  was  conducted 
down  the  valley.  At  the  Roosevelt  Dam  the  water  was 
dropped  through  a  sloping  tunnel  to  the  wheels  at  the 


THE   SALT   RIVER   PROJECT  AND   IRRIGATION  195 

power  house.  In  this  way  the  water  of  the  river  was 
chiefly  used  for  building  the  dam  which  checked  the 
river  in  its  course  and  caused  it  to  form  the  lake. 

The  work  of  constructing  the  Roosevelt  Darn  was  begun 
in  the  spring  of  1905.  To  insure  a  safe  basis  for  the  founda- 
tion, it  was  necessary  to  dig  down  to  solid  rock  and  to 
anchor  the  ends  of  the  dam  deep  in  the  sides  of  the  rocky 
cliffs.  It  seemed  as  if  the  river  had  made  up  its  mind  to 
prevent  the  work.  Flood  after  flood  came  tearing  down  the 
valley,  sweeping  away  the  work  of  the  contractor  and  his 
men.  A  heavy  flood  late  in  November  destroyed  all  that 
had  been  done  and  did  much  damage  to  the  newly-built 
road  along  the  canyon.  Later  also  the  contractors  were 
greatly  hindered  by  these  unusual  and  destructive  freshets. 

During  the  construction  of  the  dam,  the  water  from 
above  was  let  through  a  tunnel  cut  in  the  solid  rock  around 
the  end  of  the  dam.  After  the  construction  of  the  dam 
also  the  water  was  let  out  from  time  to  time  through  a 
tunnel  into  the  main  channel  of  the  river,  whence  it  could 
run  down  to  the  second  dam  forty  miles  further  on, 
where  it  was  diverted  upon  the  irrigated  lands. 

The  Roosevelt  Dam,  when  completed,  was  280  feet  high 
and  about  1080  feet  along  its  top,  where  a  wagon  road 
was  built.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  semicircle  arched  upward 
toward  the  stream  for  great  power  of  resistance.  The 
dam  has  a  very  broad  foundation  and  tapers  gradually 
towards  the  top.  At  either  end  near  the  rock  cliffs  are 
spillways  where  the  flood  waters  can  escape  when  the 
lake  is  overfilled.  The  dam  contains  about  340,000  cubic 
yards  of  masonry  in  which  25,000  barrels  of  cement  were 
used.  By  constructing  its  own  cement-making  mill,  the 
government  saved  more  than  $500,000  for  the  people  who 


196  TEACHING  BY   PROJECTS 

were  to  use  the  irrigated  lands,  since  they,  in  time,  were  to 
pay  back  the  costs  of  construction  to  the  government. 

About  forty  miles  below  the  Roosevelt  Dam  it  was 
necessary  to  construct  a  second  dam,  called  the  Granite 
Reef  or  Diversion  Dam,  because  the  waters  collected  behind 
this  dam  were  diverted  from  the  river  channel  through 
large  canals  to  the  thousands  of  acres  of  valley  land  which 
was  to  be  irrigated.  The  Granite  Reef  Dam  is  38  feet  high 
and  1 100  feet  long,  and  cost  half  a  million  dollars.  The  water 
held  in  reserve  in  the  large  lake,  forty  miles  above,  can  be 
let  out  from  time  to  time  at  the  Roosevelt  Dam.  Thence 
it  flows  down  the  river  channel  to  the  diversion  dam, 
where  it  is  diverted  to  the  canals  for  irrigation.  The 
lake  reservoir  above  the  Roosevelt  Dam  has  a  capacity 
for  holding  in  reserve  1,300,000  acre-feet  of  water.  (An 
acre-foot  is  the  amount  of  water  required  to  cover  an  acre 
of  ground  a  foot  deep.)  This  reservoir  at  the  time  it  was 
built  was  one  of  the  largest  artificial  reservoirs  in  the 
world. 

The  amount  of  good  land  in  this  tract  that  can  be  directly 
supplied  with  water  from  the  river  is  about  160,000  acres, 
but  all  together  there  are  some  240,000  acres  that  might 
be  irrigated,  if  the  supply  of  water  were  sufficient.  A 
large  ditch  starting  from  the  diversion  dam  on  the  north 
side  has  a  flow  of  2000  cubic  feet  per  second,  and  distrib- 
utes its  water  through  numerous  smaller  channels  to  the 
acreage  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  A  second  ditch 
corresponding  to  this,  built  on  the  south  side,  has  a  flow  of 
1500  cubic  feet  per  second  and  distributes  its  waters  to  the 
fields  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley.  The  Verde  River 
also  comes  in  above  the  diversion  dam  and  the  two  streams 
combined  are  expected  to  furnish  enough  water  for  about 


THE   SALT  RIVER   PROTECT  AND  IRRIGATION  197 

240,000  acres.  Good  irrigated  land,  well  located,  is  worth 
one  hundred  dollars  an  acre,  or  more.  Some  fruit  lands 
are  sold  at  one  thousand  dollars  an  acre.  The  same  quality 
of  land  without  water  may  be  worth  not  more  than  five  or 
six  dollars  per  acre. 

The  farm  lands  between  the  main  ditch  and  the  river 
can  be  irrigated  by  drawing  the  water  from  the  main  ditch. 
The  big  ditch  has  an  embankment  on  the  lower  side  through 
which  a  sluice  box  extends.  One  end  of  the  box  is  under 
water  in  the  big  ditch,  while  the  other  end,  somewhat 
lower,  extends  beyond  the  embankment  toward  the  fields. 
A  sliding  board  or  gate  at  the  other  end  of  the  boxing  can 
be  raised  or  lowered  to  control  the  passage  of  water.  The 
amount  of  water  and  the  size  of  the  sluice-box  are  deter- 
mined by  the  number  of  fields  or  farms  to  be  irrigated  from  . 
this  outlet.  Sometimes  these  lateral  ditches  are  six  or 
eight  feet  wide,  and  a  foot  or  two  deep,  and  again  they  are 
small,  but  a  foot  or  two  in  breadth. 

Because  water  is  scarce  and  none  should  be  wasted, 
it  is  necessary  to  regulate  carefully  the  amount  of  water 
let  out  and  the  times  of  opening  and  using  the  lateral 
ditches.  Various  devices  have  been  used  to  measure  the 
quantities  of  running  water.  To  regulate  the  use  of  water, 
inspectors  are  appointed  under  state  laws,  whose  business 
it  is  to  make  regular  rounds  of  inspection  of  the  ditches, 
and  to  control  the  distribution  of  irrigation  waters.  The 
legislatures  of  the  different  states  have  passed  many  laws 
regulating  the  construction  of  ditches  and  the  water  rights 
of  users. 

A  field  is  usually  supplied  with  water  from  a  single 
ditch  which  enters  at  the  highest  point  and  skirts  the 
upper  edge  of  the  field.  From  this  the  water  is  drawn 


198  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

off  in  furrows  between  the  rows  of  potatoes,  or  fruit  trees, 
or,  in  the  case  of  wheat  or  alfalfa,  the  whole  field  is  flooded 
till  the  soil  is  well  soaked.  The  water  is  then  turned  off 
for  a  week  or  two  till  a  second  watering  is  required.  A 
farmer  should  show  great  care  in  taking  the  levels  and 
slopes  of  his  fields,  in  laying  off  his  ditches  so  as  to  get  the 
best  flow  of  water  without  wasting  it,  and  without  wasting 
the  soils.  During  the  season  of  cultivation  the  farmer 
is  busy  all  day  long  opening  and  closing  his  ditches  and 
regulating  the  flow  of  water  upon  his  fields. 

Some  of  the  lands  which  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  the  irri- 
gation ditches  will  be  supplied  with  water  from  under- 
ground sources  reached  by  wells.  The  electric  power  gen- 
erated at  several  points  in  the  river  above  will  be  used 
to  pump  the  water  from  these  wells.  At  the  Roosevelt 
Dam  and  at  several  points  in  the  river  channel  below,  good 
power  sites  have  been  selected,  and  it  is  estimated  that  in 
time  there  will  be  25,000  horse  power  which  can  be  used 
partly  for  pumping  and  other  farm  uses,  and  partly  for 
factories,  street  cars,  etc.,  in  the  cities.  The  same  water 
can  be  used  first  to  produce  electric  power  and  afterwards 
for  irrigation. 

The  irrigated  lands  of  the  Salt  River  Valley  are  very 
fertile.  They  lie  well  to  the  south  in  a  hot  climate  and 
can  be  cultivated  the  whole  year  through,  yielding  two  or 
three  crops.  The  lands  are  better  suited  to  intensive 
truck  gardening  than  to  cereals.  For  this  reason,  small 
farms  of  not  more  than  forty  acres  are  as  much  as  one 
family  can  well  cultivate.  The  citrous  fruits,  oranges 
and  lemons,  flourish.  Alfalfa  is  the  principal  crop  and 
yields  four  or  five  cuttings  a  year,  and  is  used  for  fattening 
cattle.  Ostriches  are  also  raised  in  large  flocks  and  fed 


THE    SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND   IRRIGATION  199 

on  alfalfa.  Sugar  beets  are  cultivated,  also  cotton.  Corn, 
wheat,  and  other  cereals  can  be  raised,  but  not  so  profitably 
as  fruits  and  vegetables.  The  near-by  cities  naturally 
furnish  a  good  market  for  vegetables  and  garden  truck, 
for  fruits  and  dairy  products. 

The  lands  are  reserved  to  actual  settlers  in  small  tracts 
of  from  forty  to  eighty  acres.  The  average  cost  per  acre 
to  the  government  in  executing  these  projects  is  between 
forty  and  fifty  dollars.  In  purchasing  a  forty-acre  farm, 
therefore,  the  settler,  at  #50  an  acre,  would  pay  #2000, 
or  $200  a  year  for  ten  years.  In  the  Salt  River  Project 
the  cost  has  been  about  #35  per  acre,  or  #1400  for 
forty  acres. 

The  farmer  coming  with  his  family  upon  a  new  piece 
of  irrigated  land  has  much  labor  and  expense  before  the 
first  crop  can  be  raised.  The  land  will  need  a  house,  barns 
for  the  stock,  farm  machines  and  tools,  fences,  seed  for 
planting,  a  well  and  pump,  and  household  equipment.  The 
farmer  will  require  money  for  family  expenses  and  a  store 
of  feed  for  his  cattle,  horses,  etc.,  before  the  first  crop  can 
be  raised.  The  land  will  need  to  be  carefully  surveyed  to 
show  the  slopes  and  the  proper  location  of  irrigating  ditches. 
The  first  year  payments  on  the  land  and  the  local  taxes 
must  be  met.  It  has  been  estimated  that  a  farmer  with 
a  family  will  need  between  #1500  and  $3000  to  meet  his 
necessary  expenses  in  getting  his  farm  upon  a  paying  basis 
during  the  first  two  years. 

But  thousands  of  such  families  have  found  homes  on 
these  irrigated  lands  and  by  their  industry  and  thrift 
have  made  them  into  profitable  farms.  About  220,000 
acres  have  been  taken  up  in  the  Salt  River  Valley  and 
more  than  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  products  have  been 


200  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

harvested  in  a  single  year.  The  Salt  River  improvement 
has  been  one  of  the  most  important  and  successful  reclama- 
tion projects  thus  far  undertaken  by  the  government. 
The  number  of  acres  of  tillable  land  belonging  to  this  proj- 
ect is  240,0x30,  and  the  cost  to  the  government  #9,878,- 
521.  It  is  expected  that  this  money  will  be  returned 
to  the  government  by  the  annual  payments  and  that  it  can 
then  be  applied  to  new  projects  in  other  regions. 

The  Salt  River  Project  of  southern  Arizona  is  one  of 
a  large  number  of  projects  which  are  located  on  streams 
flowing  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  a  part  of  the  southern 
Colorado  River  drainage  system.  The  upper  sources  of 
the  Colorado  River,  including  the  Green  River  in  Wyoming 
and  the  Grand  River  in  western  Colorado,  are  also  impor- 
tant irrigation  streams.  They  draw  their  waters  from  the 
melting  snows  of  the  high  Rocky  Mountain  ridges,  where 
the  west  winds  from  the  Pacific  deposit  their  moisture  in 
winter  and  spring.  In  California  the  San  Joaquin  and 
Sacramento  rivers  irrigate  likewise  the  great  valley  of  cen- 
tral California.  Further  north  the  Klamath  and  especially 
the  upper  streams  of  the  Columbia,  coming  down  from  the 
high  Rockies,  supply  water  to  many  of  the  broad  valleys 
like  those  of  southern  Idaho  and  eastern  Washington. 

The  Snake  River  in  southern  Idaho  flows  through 
a  broad  valley  two  hundred  fifty  miles  long  and  from  fifty 
to  ninety  miles  wide.  In  this  valley  several  large  irriga- 
tion projects  have  been  successfully  carried  out,  some 
of  them  by  the  United  States  Government,  others  by  large 
private  companies.  This  river  has  its  sources  in  the  high 
Rockies  south  of  Yellowstone  Park  and  the  water  stored 
in  the  mountains  later  irrigates  the  valley  two  and  three 
hundred  miles  away  in  southern  Idaho. 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  2OI 

The  Minnedoka  Project  gets  its  water  from  a  reser- 
voir formed  by  a  dam  in  the  Snake  River.  The  water 
above  the  dam  is  thus  raised  to  a  height  sufficient  to  supply 
two  ditches,  the  one  on  the  south  side  supplying  60,000  acres 
and  the  one  on  the  north  8000  acres.  A  striking  feature 
of  this  project  is  the  construction  of  three  pumping  stations 
rising  in  a  series  of  thirty  feet  each  by  which  water  is  pumped 
up  to  levels  thirty,  sixty,  and  ninety  feet  above  the  south 
side  ditch,  thus  bringing  a  series  of  terraces  under  irriga- 
tion that  otherwise  could  not  be  supplied  by  the  main  ditch. 

Just  below  this  on  the  south  side  of  the  Snake  River  is 
the  famous  Twin  Falls  Project,  which  was  organized  and 
managed  by  a  private  company,  and  by  means  of  a  broad, 
deep  ditch  from  the  Snake  River  supplies  many  thousands 
of  acres  with  water.  In  the  midst  of  this,  the  beautiful 
city  of  Twin  Falls  has  sprung  up.  The  productive  volcanic 
soil  of  this  region  yields  remarkable  crops  of  grains,  alfalfa, 
fruits,  and  potatoes.  Much  farther  down  the  Snake 
River,  on  the  north  side,  are  other  great  and  successful 
irrigation  projects,  at  Boise  and  Payette.  This  river  valley 
has  already  developed  a  large  number  of  successful  irriga- 
tion schemes,  and  in  the  future  they  will  be  still  further 
extended.  Several  states  must  cooperate  in  these  schemes 
because  the  mountain  sources  and  reservoirs  are  in  one 
state  and  the  irrigation  projects  in  others. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Rockies,  just  east  of  Yellow- 
stone Park,  is  a  very  interesting  and  important  irrigation 
project  in  the  valley  of  the  Shoshone  River.  The  water 
of  the  river  is  stored  behind  a  great  dam  built  in  a  narrow 
canyon  of  the  Shoshone  eight  miles  above  the  town  of 
Cody.  It  is  the  highest  dam  of  this  sort  in  the  world, 
328-^  feet  high,  and  impounds  456,000  acre-feet.  It  regu- 


2O2  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

lates  the  discharge  of  waters  of  the  river  by  means  of  a 
tunnel  ten  feet  in  diameter  supplied  with  gates,  and  by 
four  cast-iron  discharge  pipes,  each  five  feet  in  diameter. 
One  hundred  thirty  thousand  acres  of  irrigable  land  lie 
near  the  storage  works,  and  several  hundred  thousand 
acres  additional  are  tributary  to  this  development  project. 
A  diversion  dam  twelve  feet  in  height  across  the  Shoshone 
River  gives  a  head  of  water  for  the  irrigation  ditches  turned 
off  to  either  side.  Four  main  irrigating  canals  are  provided 
for,  two  of  them  eight  miles  above  Cody,  and  two  others 
about  ten  miles  below  the  town.  One  of  those  canals 
before  it  comes  out  into  the  valley  is  carried  through  a 
mountain  tunnel  three  and  one  half  miles  in  length. 

The  purpose  of  the  Reclamation  Service  in  dealing 
with  these  works  is  to  give  as  much  assistance  as  possible 
to  settlers.  The  agents  employed  by  the  government 
in  supervising  the  canals  and  the  distribution  of  the  water 
to  growing  crops  are  fully  experienced  in  this  kind  of  work. 
A  tract  for  a  demonstration  farm  has  been  set  aside  in 
each  project.  This  is  managed  by  the  Reclamation  Serv- 
ice for  the  benefit  of  the  settlers.  A  demonstration  farmer 
is  employed,  who  has  had  much  experience  in  such  work 
and  is  able  to  aid  the  settlers  in  laying  out  their  distribu- 
tion systems,  and  in  building  their  canals,  also  in  determin- 
ing what  crops  to  raise  and  how  and  when  to  apply  the 
water. 

The  Shoshone  River  is  one  of  the  smaller  branches 
of  a  tributary  of  the  upper  Missouri.  All  these  streams 
which  combine  to  form  the  upper  Missouri,  flowing  east- 
ward from  the  Rocky  Mountains,  are  used  for  purposes 
of  irrigation,  such  as  the  Milk,  the  Missouri,  the  Yellow- 
stone, and  many  smaller  branches.  Many  broad,  inter- 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  203 

montane  valleys  and  the  level  lands  far  out  into  the  eastern 
plains  have  been  made  fruitful  by  distributing  the  water 
from  these  rivers  upon  the  arid  fields.  Farther  south, 
also,  the  North  and  South  Forks  of  the  Platte  River  and 
the  Arkansas,  with  their  numerous  tributaries,  have  been 
extensively  used  in  irrigating  the  high  plains  that  stretch 
eastward  from  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Near  Denver  on  the  South  Platte  and  near  Pueblo  on  the 
Arkansas  are  extensive  irrigation  works  which  have  added 
much  to  the  agricultural  wealth  of  Colorado.  For  a 
thousand  miles  along  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains the  region  once  known  as  dry  and  almost  desert 
plains  has  been  made  productive  by  irrigation  ditches. 
In  springtime  the  melting  snows  on  the  mountains,  whose 
waters  have  been  stored  up  behind  dams  in  the  mountain 
gorges,  have  furnished  the  means  of  enriching  the  plains 
during  the  summer. 

The  Rio  Grande  River,  which  drains  the  slopes  of  the 
southern  Rockies  and  forms  a  long  boundary  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico,  has  long  been  used  both  by  our 
country  and  by  Mexico  for  irrigation.  Indeed,  Mexico 
complained  that  the  irrigation  works  in  Colorado  and 
New  Mexico  had  used  up  so  much  of  the  water  that  the 
Mexicans  were  not  receiving  their  proper  share.  After 
much  dispute  an  agreement  was  reached  with  Mexico  by 
which  she  would  accept  60,000  acre-feet  each  year  as  full 
compensation. 

After  long  and  full  surveys  it  was  determined  to  locate 
the  great  storage  dam  at  Elephant  Butte,  120  miles  north 
of  El  Paso.  "This  will  be  one  of  the  largest  dams  in  the 
world  and  will  make  a  reservoir  40  miles  long,  covering 
40,000  acres  and  containing  nearly  2,600,000  acre-feet, 


204  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

or  twice  the  amount  of  the  Roosevelt  Reservoir,  and  nearly 
two  and  a  half  times  that  of  the  reservoir  produced  by  the 
Assuan  Dam  on  the  Nile."  Diversion  dams  have  been 
built  lower  down,  and  a  series  of  ditches  has  been  laid  out 
for  distributing  this  stored  water  upon  various  tracts  for 
many  miles  along  the  valley.  The  products  of  this  warm 
southern  country  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Salt  River 
Project  in  Arizona. 

The  first  Mormon  settlers  about  Salt  Lake  were  among 
the  earliest  users  of  river  water  for  purposes  of  irrigation 
in  this  country.  Along  the  Jordan  and  Bear  rivers,  flow- 
ing into  Salt  Lake,  they  began  a  system  of  irrigation  that 
has  converted  those  desert  lands  into  gardens  of  plenty. 
The  mountains  just  east  of  Salt  Lake,  the  Wasatch,  and 
those  to  the  south,  are  high  enough  to  catch  the  winter 
snows  and  store  up  moisture  for  the  rivers.  In  Nevada, 
which  is,  like  Utah,  a  part  of  the  Great  Basin,  the  rivers 
coming  down  from  the  mountains  furnish  waters  for  ex- 
tensive projects. 

On  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mo.un- 
tains  are  two  neighboring  streams  whose  waters  have 
been  combined  to  irrigate  a  tract  of  more  than  200,000 
acres.  Lake  Tahoe,  in  the  mountain  edge  of  California, 
is  the  storage  basin  for  the  Truckee  River.  It  is  a  large 
and  beautiful  mountain  lake  whose  waters  are  collected 
from  the  snows  of  the  high  Sierras.  A  great  engineering 
plan  was  worked  out  by  which  the  waters  of  the  Truckee 
River,  coming  down  from  Lake  Tahoe,  were  carried  through 
an  artificial  canal  across  the  divide  into  the  channel  of  the 
Carson  River,  which  also  descends  from  these  mountains. 
By  means  of  a  dam  across  the  Carson  Valley,  the  waters 
of  these  two  rivers  were  led  out  and  distributed  to  the 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND   IRRIGATION  205 

plains  below.  Several  important  mining  towns  are  located 
near  this  irrigation  belt,  so  that  the  products  of  the  farms 
and  gardens  will  have  a  local  market. 

A  description  of  these  various  and  widely  separated  under- 
takings of  the  government  Reclamation  Service  in  seven- 
teen different  states  of  the  West  reveals  the  fact  that  the 
engineers  who  have  planned  these  projects  have  been 
compelled  to  show  marked  ingenuity  in  solving  each  prob- 
lem. No  two  projects  are  so  much  alike  that  they  can 
be  worked  out  on  the  same  plan.  The  physical  conditions, 
mountains,  valleys,  rivers,  the  soil,  and  climate,  have  been 
so  variable  that  each  project  has  been  carefully  surveyed 
and  the  plan  developed  as  based  on  the  peculiar  local  condi- 
tions. And  yet  there  is  a  general  similarity  of  arid  climate, 
of  sources  of  water  supply  in  the  higher  mountains,  of  farm, 
garden,  and  orchard  products,  and  of  small  tracts  with 
intensive  farming. 

A  map  study  of  the  mountains  and  rivers  in  the  western 
half  of  the  United  States  will  show  that  the  central  ranges 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  the  high  regions  from  which 
all  the  longer  rivers  take  their  rise,  as  the  Missouri,  Platte, 
and  Arkansas  on  the  east,  the  Rio  Grande  on  the  south, 
and  the  Colorado  and  the  Columbia  on  the  southwest 
and  the  northwest.  All  these  rivers  are  very  important 
irrigation  streams.  The  Pacific  winds  moving  eastward 
across  the  continent  drop  their  rains  and  snows  upon  these 
high  mountains  and  thence  the  waters  descend  eastward 
and  westward  to  fill  the  rivers  and  irrigate  the  valleys  and 
plains.  The  lesser  mountain  ranges  and  those  nearer  the 
coast,  such  as  the  Sierra  Nevada,  Cascade,  Wasatch,  White 
Mountains,  etc.,  are  the  sources  of  smaller  rivers,  such  as 
the  Sacramento,  San  Joaquin,  Klamath,  Truckee,  Bear, 


206  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

Jordan,  Salt,  and  Humboldt.  When  they  reach  an  eleva- 
tion of  ten  or  twelve  thousand  feet,  the  mountains  gather 
the  winter  snows  from  the  Pacific  winds  and  become  natural 
reservoirs  for  irrigation  streams. 

One  of  the  government  maps  of  the  Reclamation  Serv- 
ice shows  that  there  are  twenty-nine  of  these  important 
irrigation  projects  distributed  through  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain states  and  through  the  other  states  lying  in  the  arid 
regions  farther  west.  This  map  shows  that  all  the  western 
states,  seventeen  in  number,  including  the  Dakotas,  Kansas, 
and  Texas,  are  deriving  important  benefit  from  the  govern- 
ment efforts  to  reclaim  arid  lands.  Some  of  these  projects 
are  now  completed  or  nearing  completion  ;  others  are  under 
investigation  by  the  government  engineers.  These  proj- 
ects contemplate  the  irrigation  of  3,101,450  acres  of  land, 
the  impounding  of  waters  with  a  total  storage  capacity 
of  13,272,490  acre-feet  in  the  numerous  reservoirs  either 
completed  or  under  construction. 

It  is  then  the  purpose  of  the  United  States  Government 
to  work  out  these  large  irrigation  projects  for  the  benefit 
of  the  common  people  and  to  divide  up  these  irrigated  lands 
into  small  farms  for  actual  settlers,  who  pay  for  their  lands 
and  water  rights  in  yearly  payments  extending  through 
a  period  of  ten  years  and  without  interest.  In  this  way  the 
government  gets  back  the  money  it  has  spent  and  later 
can  use  it  in  new  projects.  It  is  not  permitted  that  wealthy 
men  should  buy  up  large  tracts  of  land  and  hold  it  for 
speculation.  The  whole  purpose  is  to  help  the  common 
man  of  small  means.  The  government  provides  for  town 
settlements  on  these  projects,  reserves  lots  for  schools 
and  churches,  and  in  some  cases  provides  for  the  founding 
of  central  or  consolidated  schools. 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  207 

One  of  the  difficult  problems  for  the  Reclamation  Serv- 
ice is  to  secure  the  settlement  on  these  irrigation  projects 
of  men  who  show  superior  intelligence,  energy,  and  thrift. 
Too  many  men  have  entered  lands  on  these  irrigated 
tracts  who,  because  of  lack  of  experience  or  of  practical 
intelligence,  or  because  of  lazy  or  shiftless  habits,  have 
proved  failures.  Men  experienced  in  reclamation  service 
assert  that  it  requires  a  greater  intelligence  to  culti- 
vate lands  by  irrigation  methods  than  farms  dependent 
upon  natural  rainfall.  The  laying  out  and  care  of  ditches, 
and  the  more  intensive  culture  of  smaller  farms,  seem  to 
require  more  scientific  methods.  This  is  especially  true 
in  fruit  raising,  in  truck  farming,  and  in  other  more  special- 
ized forms  of  culture. 

Farming  on  irrigated  lands,  where  water  can  be  depended 
on,  is  reasonably  sure  of  regular  returns.  The  crop  pro- 
duction is  more  directly  under  man's  control,  and  the  sun- 
shine in  these  regions  for  ripening  and  harvesting  of  crops  is 
more  steady  and  reliable.  The  productivity  of  lands  under 
this  more  intensive  culture  is  greater  and  it  requires  much 
less  land  to  supply  a  family.  It  has  been  claimed  that 
under  proper  methods  of  irrigation  an  acre  of  land  will  on 
the  average  support  one  person. 

The  United  States  Government  came  late  into  the  busi- 
ness of  irrigation,  and  gave  its  attention  chiefly  to  those 
large  projects  which  were  beyond  the  reach  of  private 
capital.  The  work  of  the  government,  however,  has 
greatly  stimulated  other  agencies  in  the  development  of 
irrigation.  There  are  also  certain  large  phases  of  irri- 
gation that  require  the  general  management  and  control 
of  the  central  government.  The  larger  rivers  pass  through 
or  border  several  states.  The  main  sources  of  water  supply 


208  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

are  often  in  the  mountains  of  one  state,  while  the  use  of 
the  water  is  in  other  states  far  distant.  The  preservation 
of  these  water  supplies  and  the  building  of  reservoirs  hi 
the  mountains  should  be  largely  controlled  by  the  national 
government.  The  fair  distribution  of  the  water  supplies 
among  ditch  companies  in  several  states  can  best  be  man- 
aged under  national  laws  and  administration.  In  several 
river  valleys  along  the  border  of  Canada  on  the  north  and 
of  Mexico  on  the  south,  international  disputes  have  arisen 
as  to  the  division  and  use  of  the  stream  waters.  The 
national  government  must  settle  by  diplomacy  all  ques- 
tions which  arise  in  dealing  with  foreign  states. 

Several  different  agencies  have  been  at  work  on  these 
irrigation  projects,  including  private  individuals,  smaller 
and  larger  groups  of  cooperating  farmers,  corporations, 
and  the  government.  In  the  year  1909  there  were  more 
than  14,000,000  acres  under  irrigation,  distributed  as 
follows  (Fortier  :  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation) : 

Agency.  Acres. 

Individual  and  partnership  enterprises 6,624,614 

Cooperative  enterprises 4,643,539 

Commercial  enterprises 1,809,379 

Irrigation  districts          528,642 

U.  S.  Reclamation  Service 395,646 

Carey  Act  enterprise 288,553 

U.  S.  Indian  Service _     172,912 

14,463,285 

Another  method  of  irrigation  worth  mentioning  in  this 
connection  is  that  by  means  of  wells.  In  the  western 
part  of  North  Dakota  and  South  Dakota,  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  and  Texas,  wells  are  bored  often  1000  or  1200 
feet  deep.  Abundant  underground  water  for  a  large  farm 


THE   SALT  RIVER   PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  2CX) 

is  often  secured  in  this  way  and  is  sometimes  pumped 
into  artificial  basins  or  lakes,  which  are  located  and  dug 
out  on  the  higher  levels  of  the  farm,  whence  the  water  can 
be  carried  by  ditches  to  the  fields.  In  Texas  about  San 
Antonio  and  other  places  this  method  has  been  used  with 
marked  success.  It  depends  upon  abundant  supplies  of 
underground  water,  and  is  at  first  quite  expensive  because 
of  the  cost  of  boring  the  wells  and  of  equipping  them  with 
pumps  or  windmills.  Pumping  from  wells,  as  noticed  pre- 
viously, is  also  used  as  a  secondary  means  of  irrigation  on 
the  Salt  River  Project,  and  in  other  places.  The  water 
power  obtained  from  rivers  is  often  used  for  pumping. 
This  plan  of  irrigation  is  also  followed  in  southern  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona,  where  there  are  extensive  tracts  of 
good  dry  land  for  which  no  river  is  obtainable.  This  mode 
of  irrigation  is  likely  to  become  more  and  more  impor- 
tant, as  there  are  extensive  areas  in  all  the  western  states 
to  which  water  from  rivers  cannot  be  applied,  but  which 
are  in  other  respects  good  for  agriculture. 

Still  another  plan  of  irrigation  is  followed  in  the  rice 
fields  of  the  southern  states,  in  the  Carolinas,  in  Louisi- 
ana, Texas,  and  Arkansas.  Formerly  only  swamp  lands 
were  used  for  such  purposes,  as  along  the  low  coastal 
swamps  of  the  Carolinas.  But  in  the  newer  states  of  the 
Southwest,  the  prairie  land,  so  called,  is  used  for  rice  fields. 
A  high  ridge  of  land  is  thrown  up  around  the  fields,  and 
water  is  pumped  up  by  engines  ten  or  twenty  feet  from 
neighboring  streams  or  bayous,  or  from  wells,  and  the 
fields  are  flooded  at  the  proper  time  for  sowing  and  cultivat- 
ing the  rice.  Of  course,  this  kind  of  irrigation  is  not  due 
to  a  dry  climate  and  lack  of  rainfall,  but  to  the  fact  that 
rice  grows  on  flooded  lands  and  requires  large  quantities 


210  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

of  water  which  can  be  definitely  controlled  at  the  season 
for  planting. 

It  has  been  estimated  by  experts  that  the  amount  of 
land  in  the  arid  belt  of  the  United  States  that  ultimately 
can  be  brought  under  cultivation  is  nearly  forty-five  million 
acres,  or  about  three  times  as  much  as  at  present.  With 
the  more  improved,  intensive  cultivation  of  this  area  by 
scientific  methods,  its  productiveness  will  be  largely  in- 
creased. The  extensive  work  that  has  already  been  done 
in  developing  the  agriculture  of  the  West  through  irriga- 
tion is  only  the  good  beginning  of  a  far  greater  work  yet 
to  be  done.  The  total  estimated  final  cost  of  all  the  irri- 
gation projects  now  finished  or  under  way  is  given  as 
£867,374,186. 

Our  treatment  of  the  subject  of  irrigation  thus  far  goes 
to  show  that  it  is  a  matter  of  large  national  significance. 
It  is  fundamentally  a  home-making  problem,  a  means  of 
giving  opportunity  to  tens  of  thousands  of  worthy  families 
to  establish  themselves  comfortably  on  good  farms  where 
they  can  live  under  wholesome  surroundings,  with  churches 
and  schools,  and  all  the  conditions  favorable  to  proper 
living. 

EGYPT  AND  INDIA 

Later  in  the  study  of  foreign  lands  we  shall  meet  with 
ancient  and  modern  systems  of  irrigation  on  a  large  scale. 

Egypt,  along  the  Nile  River,  illustrates  both  of  these. 
Egypt  has  been  called  the  "gift  of  the  Nile."  For  thou- 
sands of  years,  with  its  annual  overflow,  the  Nile  has 
brought  refreshment  and  fertility  to  the  narrow  flood  plain 
along  the  course  of  the  river,  and  to  the  broad  delta  region 
at  its  mouth.  The  sources  of  these  floods  are  the  tropical 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  211 

rains  of  Central  Africa  and  of  the  mountains  of  Abyssinia. 
From  July  to  September  the  mighty  floods  that  pour  down 
the  Blue  Nile,  carrying  a  heavy  load  of  silt,  cause  the  over- 
flow of  the  lower  Nile,  overspread  the  valleys,  and  deposit 
their  rich  silt  upon  the  fields.  This  yearly  contribution 
of  fresh  mud  gives  a  permanent  fertility  to  the  soil.  As 
the  floods  retire  the  crops  spring  up  that  give  food  to  Egypt. 

The  Nile  and  the  Mississippi  have  curious  likenesses 
and  differences.  The  Mississippi,  too,  has  its  great  floods, 
caused  chiefly  by  the  overflow  of  the  Ohio,  Missouri,  and 
other  rivers.  But  instead  of  letting  its  waters  out  upon 
the  flood  plain,  men  have  built  levees  hundreds  of  miles 
along  its  banks  to  hold  its  excess  waters  in  check  and  to 
prevent  them  from  flooding  the  bottom  lands.  The  Missis- 
sippi, too,  has  a  broad  delta,  but  it  consists  of  marsh  lands 
not  yet  brought  under  control  for  man's  uses.  It  has  been 
proposed,  by  a  better  regulation  of  the  river,  to  build  up 
the  delta  lands  and  make  them  productive  for  man's  benefit. 
The  Nile  flows  through  a  desert  with  a  very  narrow  and 
fertile  flood  plain.  The  broad  Mississippi  Valley  has 
sufficient  rainfall  to  make  its  great  fertile  plains  productive 
for  hundreds  of  miles  back  from  the  river. 

In  recent  years,  since  England  has  taken  a  hand  in  man- 
aging the  affairs  of  Egypt,  expensive  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  irrigation  of  the  Nile  Valley.  Thousands 
of  square  miles  of  fertile  land  along  the  Nile  Valley  were 
not  watered,  partly  because  the  flood  waters  were  not  held 
back,  and  partly  because  the  waters  were  not  carried  by 
ditches  along  the  higher  levels.  At  Assuan,  about  500 
miles  up  the  river  from  the  sea,  the  British  have  built  the 
great  Assuan  Dam.  It  is  constructed  of  solid  masonry,  is 
about  6400  feet  long,  120  feet  high,  80.4  feet  thick  at  the 


212  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

base,  and  23  feet  at  the  top.  Back  of  this  great  stone  breast- 
work are  stored  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  1,000,000  acre-feet, 
not  so  much  as  the  Roosevelt  Dam  and  lake  on  the  Salt 
River.  In  order  to  prevent  the  silt  from  collecting  above 
the  dam  and  filling  up  the  reservoir,  180  sluice-gates  allow 
the  heaviest  flood  waters  to  pass  by,  carrying  their  silt. 
Later  the  gates  close  down  and  impound  the  waters.  The 
Assuan  Dam,  like  the  Roosevelt  Dam,  is  built  for  storage 
purposes.  Lower  down  the  Nile  at  Assiut  is  a  secondary 
or  diversion  dam,  48  feet  high  and  3930  feet  long,  also 
supplied  with  sluice-gates  for  passing  the  floods.  By 
means  of  this  diversion  dam  and  the  stored  waters  above 
Assuan,  they  have  been  able  to  carry  the  water  to  1,600,- 
ooo  acres  not  before  irrigated,  and  convert  them  into  fruit- 
ful fields  of  cotton  and  sugar  cane.  In  all,  Egypt  has  now 
6,750,000  acres  of  irrigated  land. 

In  India,  Likewise,  the  British  government,  by  construct- 
ing extensive  and  costly  works  for  irrigating  the  arid  and 
desert  lands,  has  vastly  improved  the  condition  of  the 
native  races  and  guarded  against  great  famines.  Some 
parts  of  India  have  excessive  rainfall,  while  other  extensive 
areas  are  arid  or  desert.  The  streams  coming  down  from 
the  Himalayas,  like  our  western  rivers,  are  flooded  in  spring 
and  early  summer,  and  the  flood  waters  are  stored  up 
in  numerous  reservoirs,  behind  massive  dams,  and  let 
out  later  in  the  season.  In  the  valley  of  the  Indus,  four 
million  acres  are  irrigated.  The  Chenab  River,  a  branch 
of  the  Indus,  has  a  dam  4000  feet  long,  from  which  a 
great  canal  starts.  The  base  of  the  canal  is  250  feet 
wide  by  ii  feet  deep.  The  main  canal  is  400  miles 
long,  has  1200  miles  of  lateral  ditches,  and  has  con- 
verted 2,000,000  acres  from  a  desert  to  fruitful  fields. 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  213 

Compare  this  with  the  Salt  River  Project.  A  strip  of 
country  about  1400  miles  long  through  Northern  India 
from  Lahore  to  Calcutta,  and  about  100  miles  wide, 
is  mostly  irrigated  land.  Central  and  southern  India 
have  also  extensive  irrigation  works.  In  the  Madras 
district  thousands  of  wells  are  used  for  irrigation  purposes. 
No  other  country  has  spent  so  much  in  recent  times  as 
India  or  has  brought  so  many  millions  of  acres  under 
cultivation  by  the  methods  of  irrigation.  In  1901  it  was 
estimated  that  the  total  of  irrigated  lands  in  India  was 
53,000,000  acres. 

For  many  centuries  China,  by  her  very  complex  system 
of  great  canals  and  a  network  of  smaller  connecting  water- 
ways, has  provided  for  the  excess  waters  of  her  great  rivers. 
By  this  system  of  interlacing  canals  in  her  lowlands  China 
has  provided  main  avenues  of  commerce  and  has  likewise 
supplied  water  for  the  irrigation  of  her  rice  fields.  These 
waters  have  also  helped  to  spread  fertility  by  carrying  the 
silt  over  the  fields  as  in  Egypt. 

It  is  a  curious  and  remarkable  fact  that  the  four  impor- 
tant seats  of  the  ancient  empires  have  been  great  river 
valleys  where  extensive  systems  of  irrigation  have  been 
in  vogue  for  centuries  —  Egypt  with  the  Nile  River,  famous 
for  ancient  cities  like  Memphis,  Cairo,  and  Alexandria; 
Mesopotamia  with  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  having  the 
ruins  of  Babylon  and  Nineveh;  India  with  the  Ganges 
and  Indus,  the  cities  like  Delhi  and  Calcutta ;  China  with 
the  Yangtse  Kiang  and  Hoangho  and  the  cities  of  Shanghai 
and  Peking.  It  is  also  in  these  valleys  that  the  greatest 
irrigating  systems  of  the  world  are  in  use  to-day.  In  Tur- 
key, modern  engineers  have  made  surveys  for  restoring 
and  enlarging  the  ancient  irrigation  works  of  Mesopotamia. 


214  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America,  the  Incas  of 
Peru  and  the  Mexicans  had  in  operation  extensive  systems 
of  irrigation  upon  which  their  wealth  and  prosperity  were 
built.  In  ancient  and  in  modern  times,  agriculture,  carried 
on  in  arid  countries  by  irrigation,  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
sources  of  national  wealth. 

PROBLEMS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

At  the  close  of  this  discussion  of  irrigation,  we  are  brought 
up  sharply  against  new  and  striking  developments.  This 
study  has  carried  us  naturally  into  the  midst  of  national 
and  world  problems.  Irrigation  is  just  beginning  its 
larger  work.  The  arid  districts  of  our  own  country  and 
the  vast  semidesert  regions  of  Africa,  Asia,  and  Australia, 
when  subjected  to  modern  scientific  methods,  are  yielding 
more  and  more  to  human  necessities.  A  few  of  these  large 
current  and  future  problems  may  be  stated  thus : 

At  present  there  is  a  large  waste  of  water  in  our  western 
schemes  of  irrigation.  There  is  also  more  or  less  waste 
and  disorder  due  to  a  conflict  of  state  and  national  con- 
trol. How  are  our  water  resources  and  water  powers  in 
the  western  states  to  be  best  conserved  and  administered? 

There  is  a  growing  use  of  wells  for  irrigation.  What 
extent  of  valuable  land  can  be  irrigated  by  pumping  from 
wells  ? 

In  certain  productive,  irrigated  regions  of  the  West 
valuable  products  go  to  waste  for  lack  of  suitable  trans- 
portation. How  can  this  great  loss  be  remedied? 

In  the  rain-belt  region  of  the  United  States,  irriga- 
tion is  now  much  used  to  increase  production.  How 
extensive  may  this  become  in  the  future? 

How  may  the  flood  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  of  its 


THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  AND  IRRIGATION  215 

tributary  streams  be  controlled  and  used  to  the  best 
advantage  ? 

To  what  extent  may  the  vast  arid  regions  of  the  Sahara, 
of  central  Asia,  and  of  Australia  be  made  productive  by 
irrigation  ? 

The  responsibility  of  government  in  these  great  problems 
of  conservation  is  one  of  our  serious  political  problems. 

REFERENCES 

The  Uses  of  Water  in  Irrigation.  Samuel  Fortier.  McGraw-Hill 
Book  Co. 

Irrigation  and  Drainage.   F.  H.  King.    The  Macmillan  Co. 

Hearings  before  the  Committee  on  Irrigation.  Government 
Report,  1909. 

House  Document  204,  1906-1907.  59th  Congress.  First  and 
Second  Session. 

House  Document  79,  1902.    57th  Congress.     Second  Session. 

House  Document  86,  1905-1906.     59th  Congress.     First  Session. 

Annual  Report  of  Smithsonian  Institution.     1915. 

Irrigation  near  Phoenix,  Arizona,  1897.  Government  Pamphlet, 
No.  2. 

American  Irrigation  Farming.     W.  H.  Olin.     A.  C.  McClurg. 

Ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  Reclamation  Service.     F.  H.  Newell. 

Water  Supply  and  Irrigation  Papers  Nos.  70-74,  1902. 


CHAPTER  XII 

METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT 

BEFORE  taking  up  for  discussion  the  detailed  method  of 
handling  an  organized  unit  of  study  we  should  first  examine 
one  of  these  big  units  and  see  what  it  furnishes  us  to  start 
with. 

The  Salt  River  Irrigation  Project,  which  illustrates 
such  a  large  unit  of  study,  as  presented  above,  contains 
some  twenty-eight  pages  of  printed  matter.  Considered 
as  a  whole,  this  unit  of  study  has  certain  marked  charac- 
teristics. 

1.  It  is  an  organized  whole,  based  upon  a  single,  pur- 
poseful idea.     It  is  the  idea  of  storing  up  water  in  a  river 
and  later  in  the  season  distributing  it  over  arid  land  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  profitable  crops.     Back  of  this  is 
the  idea  of  furnishing  homes  for  the  families  of  worthy 
settlers. 

2.  This  unit  of  study  gives  a  somewhat  full,  concrete 
demonstration  of  the  process  of  actually  working  out  this 
idea  on  one  large  project.     The  idea  itself  is  a  constructive 
principle  which  organizes  the  whole  management,  and  the 
workers,  machines,  and  processes,  into  one  progressive  move- 
ment, till  the  whole  purpose  is  achieved.     This  idea  or 
purpose  has  enough  energy  in  it  to  set  all  these  forces  in 
motion  and  keep  them  going  till  the  result  is  reached.     So 
far  as  the  child  or  the  learner  is  concerned,  it  is  an  ener- 

216 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT   21 7 

getic  thought  movement,  an  effort  to  grasp  and  assimilate 
the  steps  in  this  organized  enterprise. 

3.  The  idea  begins  in  one  objective  example,  and  grows 
step  by  step  to  national  proportions  and  later  to  a  world 
significance,  comprising  the  great  nations  of  the  present 
and  reaching  back  thousands  of  years  into  antiquity. 

4.  This  unit  is  based  on  a  practical  government  project 
which  illustrates  the  organization  of  forces  at  work  in  the 
world  to-day.   The  whole  subject  has  its  setting  in  practical 
Life.     It  begins  in  life  conditions  and  ends  with  a  more 
definite  interpretation  of  life  forces  acting  in  a  broad  field. 

5.  Into  this  center  and  grouped  along  the  course  of  this 
developing  process  of  thought  are  gathered  and  organized 
important  knowledge  materials,  first  of  all  from  geography 
(physical,    climatic,    agricultural,    and    commercial),    but 
also  from  natural  science,  from  mathematics,  from  history, 
and  from  government.     A  very  large  amount  of  important 
knowledge  is  brought  into  close,  organic,  and  significant 
relation  to  the  central  developing  idea.     This  kind  of  unit- 
study  has  been  already  worked  out,  organized  into  a  con- 
sistent whole,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the  teacher  for  use 
in  the  classroom. 

Again,  before  discussing  the  teacher's  method  of  han- 
dling this  unit  of  study  in  the  classroom  we  may  well  ask, 
What  mastery  of  this  subject  should  the  teacher  have  before 
going  into  the  class  at  all?  This  is  a  searching  question 
and  the  answer  should  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  The 
knowledge  of  such  a  subject  for  teaching  purposes  goes 
deep  into  the  logical  framework  of  the  whole  as  based  upon 
a  central  organizing  idea,  and  the  relation  of  all  the  facts 
to  this  basal  thought.  The  outline  and  sequence  of  main 
points  should  stand  out  clearly,  so  that  the  teacher  can 


2l8  TEACHING  BY   PROJECTS 

handle  the  subject  with  assurance  before  the  class  without 
a  book.  It  is  certain  that  the  teacher  should  have  a  well- 
digested  and  ripened  knowledge  of  the  subject.  This 
far  exceeds  what  we  usually  call  thoroughness  because  it 
involves  a  matured  and  well-balanced  knowledge,  a  facile 
power  in  the  use  and  wider  interpretation  of  fundamental 
ideas. 

Equally  important  is  a  correct  judgment  of  these  ma- 
terials as  related  to  a  child's  needs  and  interests.  We  are 
compelled  to  presuppose  in  this  case  that  the  organization 
and  plan  of  treatment  for  this  unit  of  study  are  suitable 
to  children. 

Are  we  justified  in  asserting  that  until  these  three 
important  matters  are  provided  for,  all  discussion  of 
method  is  premature?  First,  a  full,  well-organ- 
sub  "ectZed  ized,  adequate  treatment  of  a  complete  unit  of 
matter  a  study ;  secondly,  a  matured  and  masterly  knowl- 
method*  edge  of  this  unit  of  study  by  the  teacher  for 
teaching  purposes ;  and  thirdly,  the  subject  as 
organized  appropriate  to  the  understanding  and  interests 
of  children.  If  our  conclusion,  as  suggested  above,  is 
mainly  true,  a  profitable  discussion  of  method  in  teaching 
a  subject  should  be  based  upon  well-organized,  completely 
developed  units  of  study.  In  other  words,  all  rational 
method  is  inseparably  connected  with  organized  subject 
matter.  Without  definite  subject  matter  in  mind,  or  with 
miscellaneous  or  ill-organized  data,  it  is  impertinent  to 
talk  of  method.  It  would  be  like  asking  a  contractor  to 
build  a  house  without  plans  or  specifications  and  without 
determination  of  the  materials  to  be  used. 

It  is  true  that  we  have  had  much  discussion  of  methods 
of  teaching  subjects  without  reference  to  definite  lesson 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT      2IQ 

material,  but  it  is  quite  likely  that  much  time  has  been 
wasted  in  such  discussions  and  that  much  confusion  of 
mind  has  been  produced  among  teachers.  With  such  pre- 
liminaries out  of  the  way,  we  are  prepared  to  discuss  the 
method  of  handling  such  a  developed  unit  of  study  as 
"  The  Salt  River  Project  and  Irrigation." 

In  regard  to  lesson  planning  it  is  a  natural  conclusion 
from  our  previous  discussion  that  one  is  not  prepared  to 
plan  or  teach  the  first  lesson  until  the  entire  unit 
of  study  has  been  effectively  mastered.    Again,   mastery  of 
unless  the  basal  organization  of  the  whole  unit  is  the.entire 

topic 

clearly  in  mind,  the  planning  of  lessons  is  formal 
and  fruitless.  This  deeper,  connected  thinking,  by  which 
we  organize  all  the  parts  into  a  well-rounded  whole,  is 
necessary  or  else  our  so-called  method  breaks  up  into 
fragments  and  peters  out.  Lesson  planning  will  almost 
take  care  of  itself,  if  we  will  organize  rich  and  copious 
material  into  a  strong  sequence  of  developing  thought. 
If  we  can  get  a  dynamic  thought-movement  into  a  big, 
enriching  subject  that  grows  into  an  important  whole, 
lesson  planning  will  be  easy. 

The  treatment  of  one  of  these  big  units  of  study  breaks 
up  easily  into  two  big  sections  or  halves.  First  is  the 
revelation  of  the  main  idea  in  a  striking  objective  „ 

f       lm  Two  stages 

manifestation.  The  Salt  River  Project  is  the  in  the  treat- 
concrete  working  out  and  demonstration  of  the  ' 
idea  by  means  of  vivid,  detailed  description,  reenforced 
with  maps  and  pictures.  It  involves  difficult  problems 
also,  and  more  or  less  painful  struggles  to  overcome  obstruc- 
tions and  obstacles:  the  arduous  road-building,  the 
dam  construction  broken  down  and  swept  away  by  un- 
expected floods,  the  installing  of  water  powers,  the  need 


220  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

of  a  diversion  dam,  the  survey  of  the  main  ditches  and  the 
taking  out  of  small  ditches  to  irrigate  particular  patches, 
or  the  hardships  of  the  settlers  waiting  for  the  first  crops. 

The  second  stage  in  a  big  unit  is  the  broadening  out 
of  the  subject  so  as  to  include  the  peculiar  features  and 
difficulties  of  other  irrigation  projects,  with  back  references 
and  comparisons  to  the  Salt  River  Project.  The  idea 
of  irrigation  takes  on  new  phases  in  new  and  quite  different 
localities.  New  problems  must  be  met  and  solved.  Each 
project  is  a  strange  and  difficult  enterprise  even  for  experi- 
enced and  skillful  engineers.  And  yet,  when  completed, 
they  all  serve  one  and  the  same  main  purpose.  This  idea 
grows  and  grows  in  the  valleys  of  great  western  rivers  till 
it  becomes  a  powerful  means  for  the  development  of  seven- 
teen great  western  states.  Not  only  the  national  govern- 
ment but  large  private  companies  and  thousands  of  farmers 
along  western  rivers  have  been  taking  out  ditches  and  are 
irrigating  smaller  and  larger  farms,  till  in  the  aggregate 
14,000,000  acres  in  the  West  are  under  cultivation,  and 
twice  as  many  more  will  gradually  be  brought  under  the 
irrigation  ditch. 

The  main  idea  has  in  it  this  wonderful  power  of  growth, 
this  expansive  energy  which  so  well  expresses  the  char- 
acter of  the  westward  moving  pioneers,  in  overcoming 
the  forces  of  nature  and  making  them  subject  to  man's 
uses.  By  its  onward  movement  this  unit  of  study  expands 
into  a  national  importance.  We  may  now  compare  irri- 
gation in  the  West  with  that  in  the  rice  swamps  and  prairie 
fields  of  the  Gulf  States  from  the  Carolinas  to  Texas. 

Here  our  unit  of  study  as  an  American  topic  naturally 
ends.  But  it  almost  forces  itself  upon  our  attention  as  a 
world  topic  in  other  lands. 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE   SALT  RIVER   PROJECT      221 

A  third  section  is  added  as  a  separate  unit  of  study, 
dealing  with  irrigation  in  Egypt,  showing  how  such  a 
topic,  or  its  basal  idea,  expands  and  overflows  into  other 
continents.  The  Nile  River  as  an  irrigation  stream  is  a 
conspicuous  type-study  of  river  irrigation,  extending 
through  thousands  of  years,  and  recently  growing  into  still 
greater  importance  by  the  application  of  modern  scientific 
methods.  India,  China,  and  Mesopotamia  are  naturally 
drawn  into  comparison  with  Egypt  and  with  our  own  sys- 
tems in  the  Great  West.  All  this  merely  shows  the  scope 
and  developing  power  of  a  constructive,  organizing  idea. 

Such  a  unit  of  study  is  naturally  a  series  of  problems. 
The  original  project  itself  is  a  great  problem  which  naturally 
breaks  up  into  minor  problems,  and  these  the  _ 

Problems  in 

engineers  were  compelled  to  meet  in  their  natural  a  natural 
order.  This  necessary  order  we  follow,  encoun-  order 
tering  the  same  difficulties  they  met,  and  struggling  with 
them.  The  necessary  causes  and  reasons  for  action  are 
apparent.  There  is  an  inexorable  necessity  that  holds 
us  to  the  actual  conditions.  These  are  not  made  up, 
fictitious  problems.  They  bring  a  child  as  near  to  life  and 
its  real  conditions  as  it  is  possible  to  get  him  in  the  school- 
room. For  this  reason  it  is  necessary  to  get  as  deep  as 
possible  into  the  facts,  into  whole  nests  of  facts  which  fur- 
nish the  hard  conditions  to  a  problem. 

The  teacher  should  see  to  it  that  somewhere  the  problem, 
with  its  needed  environment  of  facts,  is  placed  clearly 
before  the  children.  Oftentimes  the  conditions  of  the 
problem  should  be  fully  and  vividly  presented  by  the 
teacher  or  the  book.  Then  the  children  should  be  given  a 
chance  to  struggle  with  it  and  work  out  some  sort  of  ra- 
tional solution.  Sharp  and  definite  thinking  may  be  re- 


222  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

quired  to  show,  for  example,  how  a  water  power  was  con- 
structed, how  the  sluice-gates  would  let  out  the  flood  waters, 
how  the  diversion  dam  was  built  and  connected  with  the  two 
big  canals,  how  water  is  drawn  from  the  big  canals  to  spread 
upon  the  fields,  how  electric  power  could  be  generated  and 
later  distributed  to  the  farms  for  pumping  purposes.  A 
comparison  of  big  projects  will  reveal  how  the  same  prob- 
lem was  solved  differently  according  to  local  necessities. 

In  class  instruction  the  mode  of  asking  questions  is  much 
in  dispute.  How  and  what  questions  to  ask  is  often  bruited. 
It  may  be  said  that  thorough  organization  of 
knowledge  is  a  good  basis  for  questioning.  A 
Pr°Ject  that  opens  into  a  succession  of  problems 
is  just  a  series  of  main  questions,  for  each  prob- 
lem may  be  put  in  the  form  of  a  question.  Until  the 
knowledge  materials  of  a  subject  have  been  grouped 
and  arranged  into  an  orderly  sequence  of  main  points, 
it  is  impossible  to  select  and  locate  the  main  questions. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  fruitless  to  muddle  children  with 
questions  on  a  subject  about  which  the  teacher  has  only 
miscellaneous  or  badly  assorted  knowledge. 

The  key  to  the  situation  in  questioning  lies  in  deter- 
mining the  growth  of  the  central  idea  in  its  main  stages. 
An  important  question  is  one  that  plays  directly  into  this 
critical  argument.  In  the  Salt  River  Project,  for  example, 
Why  was  this  river  selected  as  suitable  for  a  big  irrigation 
project?  In  what  relation  do  the  White  Mountains  stand 
to  the  main  purpose?  Why  is  it  necessary  to  have  two 
dams,  and  what  is  the  special  function  of  each?  Why  did 
it  seem  advisable  to  construct  a  cement-producing  mill? 
Explain  the  reason  for  Phcenix  and  Tempe  contributing 
#7 5, coo  to  the  construction  of  a  road  up  the  canyon  to 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT   2 23 

the  Roosevelt  Dam.  Where  were  the  best  points  to  estab- 
lish power  plants,  and  why  ?  How  is  one  of  the  big  ditches, 
which  is  drawn  from  the  diversion  dam,  laid  out  so  as  to 
irrigate  the  largest  acreage?  After  the  farmers  have 
raised  good  crops  of  fruits,  vegetables,  and  alfalfa,  how  can 
they  best  dispose  of  these  products?  Why  does  the  gov- 
ernment limit  to  forty  or  eighty  acres  the  amount  of  land 
granted  to  one  person?  Why  does  the  Reclamation  Serv- 
ice establish  a  demonstration  farm  upon  each  of  these 
projects? 

A  great  amount  of  careless  and  useless  questioning 
can  be  avoided  by  any  teacher  who  will  completely  master 
the  organization  of  his  topic  before  beginning  the  teach- 
ing of  it. 

Another  mode  of  wasting  time  with  questions  is  due  to 
a  wrong  method  of  developing  topics.  Teachers  are 
afraid  to  tell  children  anything,  and  show  a  strong  tendency 
to  develop  the  facts  by  questioning.  But  many  of  the 
mere  facts  refuse  to  be  developed  even  by  very  shrewd 
questions.  Many  of  the  important  descriptive  facts  must 
be  directly  presented  by  the  teacher  or  by  the  book  or  by 
some  reference.  They  are  the  necessary  conditions  upon 
which  the  problems  are  based  and  the  problems  as  such 
cannot  be  understood  at  all  until  the  facts  are  known. 
In  such  cases  the  skill  of  the  teacher  rests  in  a  clear  and 
able  presentation  of  the  facts.  He  should  be  an  expert 
in  language  description,  in  map  sketching,  in  making 
blackboard  diagrams,  in  the  selection  and  use  of  pictures, 
and  in  other  modes  of  graphic  illustration.  His  professional 
skill  may  be  shown  in  inventive  devices  and  in  the  varied 
use  of  maps  and  of  objective  illustrations. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  teacher  can  overdo  this  stunt 


224  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

of  illustration.  He  should  know  when  to  stop  and  to 
throw  back  the  whole  burden  of  thought  upon  the  children. 
After  all,  this  information  poured  out  upon  the  children 
so  freely  is  merely  designed  to  set  them  to  reasoning,  to 
working  out  thought  problems  on  the  basis  of  the  facts 
given.  It  is  quite  as  important  to  know  when  to  withhold 
facts  —  to  ask  a  question  —  as  to  know  when  facts  should 
be  directly  furnished. 

In  the  second  stage  in  the  treatment  of  large  units  of 
instruction,  the  main  thought  is  worked  out  and  demon- 
interpreta-  strated  in  an  enlarged  way  upon  a  group  or  series 
tions  o{  new  situations.  A  rapid  interpretation  of  these 

new  problems  on  the  basis  of  the  main  idea,  already  fully 
explained,  is  demanded.  The  idea  of  irrigation,  fully 
presented  in  the  Salt  River  Project,  speedily  interprets 
the  plan  and  execution  of  other  similar  projects  in  Idaho, 
Nevada,  Wyoming,  or  Texas.  And  yet  these  new  situa- 
tions bring  out  conditions  which  demand  serious  thought 
and  a  careful  adjustment  to  new  and  strange  locations. 
Comparisons  are  made  which  show  striking  contrasts  and 
novel  applications  of  a  principle.  In  the  Minnedoka 
Project  but  one  dam  is  used  for  storage  and  for  diverting 
the  water.  In  others,  two  or  more  dams  are  used.  In 
the  Salt  River  Project  the  irrigated  land  is  in  one  compact 
body,  in  the  Rio  Grande  Project  it  is  distributed  in  a  long 
series  of  tracts  scattered  up  and  down  the  river  for  many 
miles.  In  Wyoming  the  storage  reservoirs  are  far  up  in 
the  mountains,  while  the  diversion  dam  and  ditches  are 
in  another  state  far  distant.  In  some  rivers  there  are 
spasmodic  floods,  in  others  the  flow  is  somewhat  regular. 
In  the  states  near  the  Canadian  border  the  seasons  are  short 
and  the  products  chiefly  hay,  potatoes,  and  cereals,  while 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT      225 

in  southern  California  and  Arizona  semitropical  fruits 
are  raised  and  the  growing  season  lasts  the  twelve  months 
through. 

This  second  stage  of  treatment  calls  for  a  large  amount 
of  comparative  thinking,  a  certain  versatility  of  thought 
for  explaining  new  and  novel  situations.  This  Flexibility 
demands  practical  judgment,  because  we  are  deal-  m  ti^aisin& 
ing  with  actual  conditions,  not  theoretical  or  hypothetical 
cases.  Under  these  conditions  the  main  idea  in  the  larger 
unit  develops  and  expands  until  it  takes  in  a  great  stretch 
and  variety  of  country.  It  becomes  a  principle  of  wide 
interpretation  explaining  and  organizing  hundreds  of 
important  geographical  facts.  This  training  into  flexi- 
bility of  thought  is  the  cultivation  of  an  important  mental 
attitude.  The  knowledge  presented  in  our  textbooks  is 
almost  purely  static,  and  is  so  thought  of  by  both  teacher 
and  pupil.  But  vital,  growing  ideas  are  always  variable, 
never  static.  They  are  all  the  time  at  work  reconstructing 
the  world  and  changing  the  old  order.  If  children  are  so 
unfortunate  as  to  get  the  notion  that  knowledge  is  fixed 
and  invariable,  like  the  facts  of  the  multiplication  table, 
they  get  a  complete  misconception  of  the  world  and  of  the 
forces  that  are  shaping  practical  activity  in  the  world. 
The  growth  and  modification  of  ideas,  the  readjustment 
to  new  conditions,  the  application  of  thought  to  fresh  and 
difficult  problems,  constitute  the  education  which  fits 
children  for  the  modern  world.  The  world  is  no  longer 
in  the  static,  Chinese  epoch.  It  is  changing  with  a  rapidity 
that  keeps  every  thoughtful  individual  on  the  jump  and 
sometimes  leaves  even  progressive  and  versatile  people 
far  in  the  rear. 

In  treating  big  units  of  study  the  use  of  comparison 
Q 


226  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

is  a  frequent  and  valuable  instrument  of  instruction.  In 
Com  ad  truth,  comparison  is  a  helpful  factor  in  sifting 
sons  develop  and  weighing  out  knowledge  values  and  in  group- 
ing together  facts  which  will  grow  into  strong 
centers  of  influence.  The  presentation  of  new  projects 
in  irrigation,  like  the  Minnedoka  and  Shoshone  tracts, 
and  their  comparison  with  the  Salt  River  Project  gives 
the  main  idea  of  irrigation  a  chance  to  develop  and  show 
its  importance  in  the  West.  On  the  stepping  stones  fur- 
nished by  comparisons  the  whole  unit  develops  its  impor- 
tance. The  original  project,  that  of  the  Salt  River,  reveals 
more  and  more  its  typical  character  and  becomes  a  well- 
defined  standard  or  unit  of  measure  with  which  to  estimate 
all  irrigation  schemes.  The  natural  inductive-deductive 
movement  by  which  these  comparisons  are  worked  out  is 
a  basal  method  of  organizing  knowledge.  It  is  a  kind  of 
progressive,  systematic  organization  that  continues  through 
the  whole  course  of  study.  For  such  an  idea  as  that  of 
irrigation  will  continue  its  developing,  constructive  influ- 
ence through  all  the  continents. 

In  reality  comparisons  become  stronger  and  more  signifi- 
cant as  we  advance  in  the  course.  The  ancient  and 
modern  methods  of  irrigation  in  Egypt,  India,  and  China 
will  be  brought  successively  into  comparison  with  our 
methods  in  Arizona.  The  ancient  systems  and  the  modern 
scientific  methods  come  together  and  throw  a  strong  light, 
each  upon  the  other.  Such  comparisons  of  old  and  new, 
and  of  the  methods  of  different  countries  and  ages,  give 
a  reflective  quality  to  review  studies  which  the  static, 
drill  review  knows  nothing  of.  We  could  well  afford  to 
dispense  with  the  dull  routine  of  review  drill  if  we  could 
set  the  children  to  thinking,  comparing  and  building  up 


METHOD   ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE   SALT  RIVER   PROJECT      227 

their  concepts  on  the  basis  of  fundamental  types,  which 
form  a  concrete  basis  of  comparison  extending  through 
the  whole  course  of  study.  All  the  big  units  of  study 
furnish,  in  the  fundamental  typical  idea  at  the  center  of 
each,  a  good  basis  for  review  by  comparison.  Herein 
lies  a  clear  economy  of  labor  in  learning  and  a  firmer,  more 
permanent  organization  of  knowledge. 

We  need  not  be  frightened  that  a  big  unit  of  instruction 
like  the  Salt  River  Project  reaches  out  into  the  world  and 
draws  into  its  organization  much  important  ma-  correlations 
terial  not  only  from  the  chief  phases  of  geography  *"  natural 
(physiography,  climate,  agriculture,  and  markets),  but 
also  valuable  data  from  science  and  history.  Arithmetic 
has  also  rich  picking  in  the  statistical  data  and  measure- 
ments, including  engineering  materials  and  costs,  land 
areas,  products,  etc.  This  is  only  another  phase  of  the 
strength  of  an  organizing  idea,  growing  and  expanding 
through  the  grades  and  drawing  under  its  influence  what 
naturally  belongs  to  it.  As  to  method,  there  is  nothing 
artificial  in  this  way  of  handling  a  topic.  It  is  the 
natural,  legitimate  growth  of  thought,  inherent  in  the 
very  subject. 

As  said  before,  such  a  topic  is  practical  and  real,  spring- 
ing out  of  life  and  interpreting  important  forces  at  work 
in  the  world.  By  understanding  big  projects  as  they  are 
developing  in  the  world,  we  discover  at  the  end  of  our  study 
that  the  next  problems  are  directly  before  us.  In  short, 
the  future  contains  the  solution  of  all  these  problems  that 
are  developing  in  the  present  life  of  the  people.  Our 
method  of  handling  these  topics  leads  us  directly  into  the 
future  with  the  kind  of  knowledge  that  enables  us  to  inter- 
pret its  difficulties. 


228  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

In  our  discussion  thus  far,  we  have  had  chiefly  in  mind 

the  teacher  and  his  need  of  well-organized  knowledge.   This 

sets  up  a  high  standard  for  teachers.     It  is  very 

Teachers  , 

fail  to  image  difficult  for  teachers  to  image  clearly  and  den- 
dearly  nitely  the  succession  of  engineering  problems  in- 
volved in  a  project  like  that  of  the  Salt  River.  Although 
they  have  read  this  very  subject  through  with  some  care,  a 
sharper  test  upon  the  essential  points  will  reveal  the  fact 
that  they  have  not  thought  out  the  situations  clearly  and 
completely.  This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have 
never  been  trained  to  construct  complete  imagery  in  such 
projects  and  not  because  they  are  short  in  mental  ability. 
The  same  test  of  thoroughness  needs  to  be  applied  to 
teachers  in  the  reflective  and  comparative  studies  proposed 
in  the  second  stage  of  this  larger  topic.  Teach- 
ers  themselves  have  not  formed  this  habit  of 


flective         making   definite   and   specific   comparisons,   of 

measuring  and  estimating  different  projects  on 

a  standard  once  clearly  set  up.     They  have  not  been  ac- 

customed to  trace  the  growth  of  an  idea  through  a  series  of 

variations  bringing  to  light  a  fundamental  process  which 

goes  on  interpreting  an  ever-widening  range  of  phenomena. 

We  have  been  repeatedly  emphasizing  these  things  as 

the  basis  of  the  teacher's  efficiency.     We  now  turn  to  the 

school  child  and  make  the  startling  statement 

Going  down       ,  .  ,.  .  .         .  ,  . 

into  big  that  we  are  preparing  to  direct  him  into  this 
Wlth  same  kind  of  effective  imaging  and  comparative 
thinking.  Indeed  the  reason  we  desire  the 
teacher  to  do  such  excellent  thinking  is  that  we  know  the 
child  can  do  it  if  he  is  only  directed  properly  by  a  thinking 
teacher.  What  is  to  be  our  plan,  therefore,  of  engaging 
the  minds  of  children  with  projects  like  that  of  the  Salt 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT   2  29 

River  ?  First,  of  course,  is  to  take  up  this  project  seriously 
with  children  in  its  whole  climatic  and  physical  environ- 
ment, to  survey  the  problem  with  the  engineers,  and  to 
see  where  and  how  to  begin  the  work.  We  are  going  right 
down  into  the  project  itself  to  deal  with  it  in  its  actual 
facts  and  relations.  The  children  are  soon  alert,  heart 
and  soul,  and  are  reaching  down  into  the  essential  mean- 
ings of  the  subject.  It  is  curious  to  observe  that  the  very 
thing  which  we  regarded  as  the  chief  difficulty  —  the  ability 
to  image  these  complex  situations  —  does  not  cause  the 
children  serious  trouble.  They  are  scarcely  as  yet  out 
of  the  imaging  state  of  childhood.  They  dote  upon  the 
objective  and  concrete.  They  are  just  ready  to  develop 
their  concrete  thinking  into  larger  schemes  —  the  bigger 
object  lessons  we  have  talked  about.  It  is  easier  and 
more  natural  for  children  to  do  this  kind  of  thinking  and 
concrete  imaging  than  for  adults.  Teachers  have  gotten 
out  of  the  habit  of  doing  this,  for  it  requires  an  effort  and 
it  goes  a  little  against  the  grain.  Besides,  it  demands  a 
good  measure  of  real  knowledge !  There  are  some  serious 
difficulties  to  be  met  by  real  thought-effort  on  the  part 
of  the  children,  and  we  have  no  desire  to  soften  the  rigor 
and  strain  of  this  effort.  In  fact  we  are  here  with  the  chil- 
dren to  struggle  with  these  situations  and  keep  at  them 
till  we  work  them  out.  It  is  an  honest  effort  on  the  part  of 
all  concerned  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  an  interesting  subject. 
We  must  admit,  however,  that  some  questions  will  come 
up  that  are  too  difficult  for  children  or  for  us  as  teachers 
to  try  to  explain.  The  turbine  wheel,  the  trans-  f 

Some  un- 

former,    the   nature   of   electrical   energy,   may  answerable 

properly  arouse  the  curiosity  of  children  and  may  que 

be  best  referred  to  later  high  school  and  college  studies 


230  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

for  complete  explanation.  It  is  the  nature  of  all  big  topics 
to  run  into  some  difficulties  that  cannot  be  solved  at  pres- 
ent. This  is  in  fact  a  good  method  of  awakening  a  begin- 
ning interest  in  later  and  larger  studies. 

The  instructor  may  be  helpful  to  children  at  times  by 
refreshing  their  minds  and  by  suggesting  familiar  experi- 
ences that  will  apply  to  the  difficulty  at  hand, 
and  using5     The  cement  work  which  children  have  seen  done 
past  er-        fa  bridge  abutments  or  in  concrete  foundations 

periences  ° 

may  be  just  the  thing  needed  in  interpreting  the 
cement  work  on  the  dam.  It  may  be  advisable  to  visit 
some  local  shop  or  piece  of  constructive  work  to  secure 
the  data  necessary  to  interpret  the  Roosevelt  Project. 
Sometimes  it  is  profitable  to  make  a  map  or  diagram  on 
the  blackboard  and  discuss  it  fully  in  class  in  order  to  clear 
up  a  difficult  part  of  the  construction.  Such  was  the 
case  in  one  class  in  trying  to  explain  the  high-line  ditch 
or  canal  that  was  dug  twenty  miles  long  to  supply  a  water 
power  for  the  construction  of  the  dam.  One  of  the  best 
things  any  teacher  can  do  is  to  compel  children  to  use 
their  former  experience  or  knowledge  in  interpreting  new 
topics.  Oftentimes  they  are  surprisingly  apt  in  the 
use  of  such  personal  experiences.  Let  the  children 
also  be  free  to  use  the  blackboard  as  a  means  of  ex- 
plaining and  expressing  their  own  ideas  and  interpreta- 
tions of  the  subject.  As  a  result  of  the  teacher's  ex- 
ample, they  quickly  and  easily  fall  into  this  excellent 
habit.  Give  a  boy  or  girl  who  desires  it  a  chance  to 
make  a  full,  unhindered  explanation  of  a  difficult  point. 
Be  not  overhasty  in  condemning  a  child's  interpreta- 
tion. Give  him  a  fair  hearing  and  correct  his  mistake 
and  go  on. 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  SALT  RIVER  PROJECT   231 

The  problems  involved  in  these  large  projects  are  more 
interesting  and  stimulating  to  the  minds  of  children  than  the 
problems  of  arithmetic,  because  they  are  clearly 
objective  and  practical  and  lie  directly  in  the  Th"e 

problems 

essential  line  of  thought.  They  are  the  neces-  better  than 
sary  steps  for  reaching  conclusions  that  we  are  arithmetic 
after.  They  are  more  practical  than  arithmetic 
because  they  are  not  so  exact  and  easily  determinable. 
There  are  more  contingencies  and  uncertainties,  just  such 
as  we  meet  in  the  difficulties  of  daily  life.  Unexpected 
emergencies,  such  as  sudden  floods  and  accidents  to  ma- 
chinery, arise,  or  the  rock  foundation  is  insecure  and  must 
be  reenforced,  or  a  cave-in  occurs  which  demands  special, 
inventive  readjustment.  This  kind  of  thinking  puts 
children  into  the  real  struggle  of  life  and  no  wonder  it 
engages  their  full  powers.  There  is  no  uncommon  or 
excessive  difficulty  in  thinking  out  such  problems,  if  only 
we  furnish  enough  concrete  data,  the  real  conditions  and 
facts.  Here  again  the  teacher  needs  knowledge  and 
plenty  of  it  and  this  is  a  very  serious  difficulty.  The 
dynamic  thought-movement  through  a  series  of  problems 
toward  a  fought-for  goal  is  the  essential  thing,  the  motivated 
energy. 

The  second  stage  of  comparisons,  of  combined  aggressive 
and  reflective  thinking,  rests  back  upon  the  first  stage  as 
a    necessary     foundation.     We     cannot     make 
comparisons  that  amount  to  anything  without  a  The  unit  of 

measure 

well-established,  clearly  denned  unit  of  measure  must  be 
upon  which  to  base  the  comparison.     It  is  non-  Defined 
sense  to  talk  of  comparing  irrigation  projects  and 
of  developing  a  comprehensive  view  of  government  and 
of  private  irrigation  until  we  have  a  clear  and  full  concep- 


232  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

tion  of  at  least  one  great  project.  The  big,  well-developed 
object  lesson,  which  for  all  the  future  stands  out  as  a  standard 
unit  of  comparison,  is  the  first  inevitable  need  of  the  child 
if  he  is  to  be  held  to  real  thinking.  On  this  basis  of  a  real, 
tangible  unit  of  measure,  he  can  do  the  thinking  just  as 
well  as  you  or  I,  and  without  this  basis  the  teacher  himself 
can  do  no  real  thinking  and  is  thrown  back  upon  empty, 
hypocritical  phrases. 

How  do  we  know  that  children  in  intermediate  and 

grammar  grades  can  do  this  kind  of  progressive  thinking? 

First,  because  we  have  traveled  over  this  road 

why  chil-       with  children  and  have  seen   others   traveling 


the  same  route,  and  secondly,  because  it  is,  in 
its  nature,  a  much  easier  road  to  travel  with 
children  than  the  abstract  road  usually  taken.  Thinking 
on  the  basis  of  large,  concrete  object  lessons  as  standards 
of  measure  is  natural  and  easy.  It  is  the  effort  and  pretense 
of  doing  real  thinking  without  this  basis  which  makes  study 
dull  and  hard  and  essentially  discouraging.  Be  it  remem- 
bered that  we  are  dealing  with  the  selfsame  topics  in  com- 
mon use  in  our  textbooks.  The  main  difference  is  that 
we  are  making  these  very  topics  richly  intelligible  to 
children. 

A  third  reason  for  crediting  the  children  with  this  ability 
to  think  in  larger  terms  is  that  this  big  object  lesson  puts 
into  children's  hands  an  instrument  of  thought  with  which 
they  love  to  operate.  It  is  a  discovered  talent  which  they 
can  put  to  service.  Like  the  parable  of  the  talent,  it  is  a 
treasure  not  to  be  hidden  in  the  ground.  One  of  the  big 
things  we  can  do  for  a  child  is  to  put  him  in  possession  of 
one  of  these  ideas  in  the  form  of  a  great  object  lesson  and 
then  allow  him  to  test  it  out  here  and  there  on  new  situa- 


METHOD  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE   SALT  RIVER   PROJECT      233 

tions,  and  test  it  again  and  again  until  he  grows  into  a  habit 
of  applying  his  knowledge.  For  the  world  is  all  the  while 
opening  up  new  avenues  through  which  these  same  ideas 
operate. 

Having  discussed  these  more  fundamental  questions  of 
classroom  method,  we  turn  now  to  a  few  important  points 
with  which  the  practical  schoolmaster  must  always  deal : 

1.  In  the  assignment  of  a  lesson  in  the  book  or  in  a 
study  pamphlet,  the  children  should  be  held  firmly  to  the 
mastery  and  reproduction  of  the  work  assigned. 

It  is  presupposed  that  the  assignment  has  been  P1^"11 
reasonable  and   clearly  stated.     In  the  follow-  mastery  of 
ing  class  discussions,  also,  we  should  penetrate  ^g^d8" 
deeply  into  the  subject  and  demand  clear  and 
complete  imaging.     We  set  up  here  the  same  standards  of 
clear  thinking  for  children  which  we  have  previously  em- 
phasized for  teachers.     Careless  and  slipshod  statements 
and  loose  thinking  are  not  to  be  endured.     There  should 
be  a  kindly  but  firm  insistence  upon  high  standards. 

2.  In  this  connection  and  as  an  offset  to  any  undue 
severity,  freedom  of  expression  should  be  allowed  children. 
Freedom  to  draw  and  sketch  and  diagram  at  T 

0  Encourage 

the  blackboard  have  been  mentioned  already,  freedom  of 
They    should    also    be    allowed    freedom    and  exPression 
originality  of  speech.     Let  them  cultivate  a  picturesque 
and  figurative  and  descriptive  style  in  speaking.     Children 
are   young   and   imaginative   and   extravagant   in   speech 
and  these  big  object  lessons  call  for  much  freedom  and 
originality  of  constructive  imagination.     jBig  projects  in 
geography,    big    conceptions   and    inventions   in    science, 
and  big  historic  movements  are  much  like  literature  in 
their  demand  upon  invention  and  imaginative  picturing. 


234  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

Sharp,  vigorous,  picturesque  language,  striking  phrases, 
and  apt  and  even  amusing  descriptions  are  especially  appro- 
priate. Give  children  great  freedom  in  this  respect. 

3.  Some  prompt  drill  exercises  can  be  thrown  in  nearly 
every  day.    These  large   topics,   such   as   the  Roosevelt 
Drill  upon      Project,  develop  into  important  series  of  irriga- 
series  fton  projects,  of  rivers,  or  of  mountains.     These 
should  be  fixed  in  memory  by  drills,  sometimes  oral,  some- 
times written.     A  single  important  idea  underlies  such  a 
series  and  the  drill  emphasizes  and  gives  importance  to 
this  idea.     As  a  big  topic  develops  through  comparisons, 
a  chain  of  important   cities  or  of  physiographic   regions 
or  of  industrial  enterprises  develops  into   a  national  or 
world  significance,  and  this  natural  sequence  of  headings 
is  worth  fixing  in  mind. 

4.  A  big  topic  is  a  natural  rendezvous  for  the  collection 
of  pictures,  maps,  and  reference  materials.     These  should 
Making  col-  n°t  be  piled  up  in  a  confused  mass,  but  sifted 
lections         an(j  arranged,  and  their  value  as  contributions  to 
the  main  topic  clearly  brought  out.     Children  who  have 
the  time  and  ability  may  be  appointed  to  report  on  some 
of  the  reference  topics,  and  should  be  held  to  a  clear  and 
adequate  statement  of  such  a  contribution.     The  collec- 
tion, the  orderly  grouping  of  such  interesting  and  helpful 
material   around   the  main   topic   has  important  merits. 
It  sets  the  children  to  work  in  definite  efforts  of  their  own 
to   enlarge   and   enrich   the   subject.     It   breaks  up   the 
monotony  of  mere  textbook  and  classroom   work.     It  is 
the  beginning  of  a  habit  of  collecting  and  organizing  knowl- 
edge materials  around  important  thought  centers,  a  habit 
of  great  value  for  a  lifetime.     It   even   leads   sometimes 
to  original  constructive  efforts  to  devise  machines,  or  sand 


METHOD   ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE   SALT  RIVER  PROJECT      235 

maps,  or  models  for  the  more  definite  illustration  of  impor- 
tant ideas.  It  socializes  class  work  by  mutually  helpful 
contributions. 

5.  A  copiously  developing  topic  like  irrigation,  which 
opens  out  widely  into  geographical  and  historical  fields, 
offers  a  number  of  excellent  themes  for  composi- 
tion.    Being   so   fruitful  in  knowledge,  it  sup-  Suitable 

themes  for 

plies  the  first  essential  requirement,  —  a  meaty  composition 
subject  to  deal  with,  deserving  a  worthy  treatment. 
Such  themes  as  the  following  are  easily  suggested : 

1.  The  future  of  irrigation  in  the  United  States. 

2.  How  to  secure  greater  economies  in  the  use  of  irri- 
gation water. 

3.  Ancient  systems  of  irrigation  in  Egypt  and  China. 

4.  Possibilities  for  irrigation  in  the  Sahara  and  the  great 
deserts  of  Asia. 

5.  The  extension  of  irrigation  in  regions  of  natural  rain- 
fall. 

6.  The  superiority  of  irrigation  as  a  method  of  agricul- 
ture. 

7.  Law-making   and   water   rights   and  the  relation  of 
irrigation  to  state  governments  and  to  the  national  govern- 
ment. 

8.  Irrigation  by  wells  and  pumping. 

9.  The   importance   of   water   powers   connected   with 
irrigation  projects. 

Good  reference  materials  are  available  for  the  study 
and  treatment  of  such  topics.  A  list  of  such  references 
is  given  on  p.  215. 

In  preparing  and  writing  on  these  topics  children  should 
be  encouraged  into  freedom  and  independence  in  the  or- 
ganization and  handling  of  the  subjects. 


236  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

It  is  not  the  least  of  the  values  of  these  big,  richly  develop- 
ing units  of  study  that  they  open  up  such  profitable  source 
materials  for  original  composition. 

6.  Before  ending  and  laying  aside  such  a  topic  as  irri- 
gation, a  final  review  —  test  or  examination  —  may  profit- 
A  final  re-  ably  be  given  to  the  children.  Such  a  test  has 
view  test  marked  advantages  both  for  the  teacher  and 
children.  It  might  be  well,  when  possible,  for  the  principal 
or  some  other  qualified  teacher  to  give  this  test.  It  would 
be  equally  valuable  to  the  principal  by  bringing  him  into 
definite  relation  to  the  work  being  done  in  the  school. 
The  regular  teacher  would  have  his  eyes  opened  to  the  weak 
and  strong  points  in  his  own  teaching.  In  subjects  which 
children  have  gone  into  with  zeal  and  with  real  effort  they 
will  thoroughly  enjoy  this  opportunity  to  give  an  account 
of  their  proficiency  in  mastering  a  large  and  interesting 
subject.  It  is  a  great  opportunity  indeed  to  witness  the 
richness  of  thought  and  superior  language  power  gained 
by  children. 

Two  points  should  be  kept  clearly  in  mind : 

1.  The  basal  organization  of  the  knowledge  material 
requiring  sound  thought  and  right  sequence. 

2.  Clearness  and  accuracy  in  regard  to  facts  and  entire 
situations,  i.e.  complete  imagery. 

Such  a  test  gives  completeness  to  the  whole  undertaking 
as  a  worthy  and  responsible  achievement. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CLASSROOM    METHOD   BASED   ON  PROJECTS 

WE  wish  now  to  go  deeper  into  matters  of  classroom 
method.  The  first  question  is :  How  are  children  to 
come  into  contact  with  the  knowledge  materials  in  these 
big  projects  ?  Or  putting  it  in  another  way :  How  does 
knowledge  of  this  sort  best  unfold  itself  to  children's  active 
minds  ?  We  will  presuppose  that  we  have  a  well-organized 
unit  of  study  suitable  to  the  needs  and  capacity  of  the 
children. 

One  way  provides  that  the  teacher  present  the  whole 
subject  by  word  of  mouth,  in  the  best  fashion  at  his  com- 
mand. Another  way  is  for  the  child  to  read  it  from  a  book 
and  appropriate  it  the  best  way  he  can.  In  either  case 
the  whole  subject  may  be  reproduced  later  and  discussed 
in  the  class.  Or  these  two  ways  may  be  combined.  The 
teacher  may  introduce  the  subject,  open  up  the  field  of 
thought,  and  arouse  the  interest  of  the  children  in  one  or 
more  initial  problems.  He  then  assigns  a  lesson  in  the 
book  and  calls  attention  perhaps  to  one  or  two  problems 
or  difficulties  that  will  arise.  At  the  next  lesson,  the  whole 
matter  is  reproduced  and  discussed  in  the  class. 

These  are  sometimes  called  the  lecture  method  and 
the  textbook  method,  and  some  critics  object  to  both 
as  modes  of  appropriating  knowledge.  And  yet,  in  the 
hands  of  good  teachers,  these  plans  produce  excellent 
results.  This  conclusion  is  based  on  the  condition  that 

237 


238  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

teachers  are  careful  in  the  assignment  of  lessons  and  have 
some  skill  and  judgment  in  discussing  lessons  recited  by 
the  children. 

With  respect  to  the  lecture  method,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  teacher  of  children  should  not  be  a  mere  lecturer 
in  the  usual  sense  of  that  term ;  and  yet  it  may  frequently 
happen  that  the  instructor  should  be  prepared  to  give  the 
children  a  clear,  strong,  and  full  presentation  of  a  topic, 
and  every  teacher  should  cultivate  this  power  of  simple, 
masterly  narration  and  description.  This  kind  of  ability 
denotes  complete  control  of  the  subject  in  hand  and  re- 
sourcefulness in  presenting  it  to  children. 

Again,  as  to  children  learning  lessons  from  books,  they 
should  from  time  to  time  be  held  to  a  high  standard  of 
proficiency  in  mastering  and  reproducing  the  substance  of 
important  subjects  studied  from  books.  Such  proficiency 
requires  serious,  prolonged,  and  profitable  effort  on  the 
part  of  children.  It  should  not  be  formal  and  slavish,  but 
free  and  thoughtful,  and  should  be  interspersed  with  ques- 
tions and  discussions  which  bring  out  rational  freedom  and 
independence  in  thought. 

There  are  four  phases  of  classroom  instruction  which 
we  wish  to  keep  clearly  in  mind  in  the  further 

Four  phases 

of  instruc-  discussion  of  the  large  units  of  study.  They 
may  be  briefly  summarized  as  follows : 

First,  the  Art  of  Questioning.  Questions  are  used  in  a 
variety  of  ways  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  question 
is  the  most  frequent  and  important  instrument  used  in 
teaching.  (See  preceding  chapter.) 

Secondly,  Problem-solving,  in  which  children  are  given 
a  chance  to  use  their  own  original  powers  in  discovering, 
thinking  out,  and  interpreting  difficult  situations. 


CLASSROOM   METHOD  BASED   ON  PROJECTS  239 

Thirdly,  The  Development  Method  of  teaching,  by  which 
children,  by  means  of  question  and  discussion,  are  thrown 
much  upon  their  own  resources  in  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge. 

Fourthly,  Reviews  and  Drills,  by  means  of  which  teachers 
aim  to  secure  greater  thoroughness  and  retentiveness  of 
knowledge. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  enter  upon  a  full  and  separate 
discussion  of  each  of  these  already  familiar  points,  but 
rather  to  observe  how  they  relate  themselves  to  the  thought 
movements  and  processes  which  belong  to  large  units  of 
study. 

As  seen  in  an  earlier  chapter,  the  big  unit  of  study  offers 
a  dynamic  thought-movement.    It  contains  within  it  a 
growing,   expanding  idea  which  organizes   the 
facts  and  carries  them  through  a  developing  pro-  namjcy~ 
cess.     At  the  basis  of  this  process  is  the  inductive-  thought- 

.  1.11  -i  .       movement  is 

deductive  movement  which  determines  the  main  a  broad 


line  of  progress  from  the  particular  to  the  general 
in  learning.  This  complete,  progressive  cycle  of 
thought  in  a  big  topic  is  a  broad  and  safe  foundation  for 
lesson  planning  and  for  method  in  classroom  work.  Every 
large  unit  of  study  is  a  complete  thought  enterprise  or 
project  as  shown  in  treating  the  Panama  Canal  or  in  the 
reconstruction  of  Vienna.  It  has  one  central,  purposive 
idea  which  works  out  its  full  meaning  and  value  to  the 
world  in  a  unit  of  effort. 

We  can  well  afford  to  put  before  children  these  strong 
study-units,  with  their  copious  thought  materials,  just 
to  see  how  their  spirits  will  respond  to  such  bait.  Too 
much  we  have  been  giving  them  a  meager  and  tasteless 
diet  and  then  have  complained  and  criticized  them  because 


240  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

they  do  not  think  or  show  a  thirst  for  knowledge.  This 
appetite  for  knowledge  is  what  the  intensive  and  enriching 
study  of  profitable  topics  will  bring  and  bring  with  cer- 
tainty if  the  teacher  shows  a  reasonable  mastery  and  skill. 
Nor  is  it  the  purpose  to  pour  out  this  copious  fund 
of  knowledge  as  dictated  material,  imposed  by  the  teacher 
upon  the  docile  minds  of  children.  When  once 
Not  pure  initiated  into  this  forward  movement  and  awak- 
amTdic^  ened  to  its  wealth  of  knowledge,  we  are  ready 
thteci  to  open  up  problems  and  to  enter  into  free  dis- 

but  sharp  cussions  as  to  the  relations  of  the  facts  and  forces 
amTserious  we  are  studying.  For  we  have  the  information, 
problems  £ne  background  of  facts,  the  conditioning  cir- 

arepro'  u-  i_  j  u    • 

pounded        cumstances,  upon  which,  as  a  sound  basis,  a 

solution  of  problems  can  be  worked  out.  When, 
for  example,  we  study  the  conditions  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  River  under  which  Captain  Eads  attacked  the 
problem  of  the  jetties  and  hoped  to  open  a  deep  passage 
*  for  large  ships  through  the  mud-bars  to  the  Gulf  and  thus 
make  New  Orleans  a  great  port,  we  furnish  children  with 
material  or  see  that  they  get  it  with  which  to  do  their  own 
thinking.  They  seize  that  opportunity  eagerly,  and  push 
on  to  important  and  correct  conclusions. 

It  is  under  such  conditions  also  that  we  as  teachers 
can  learn  to  frame  good  questions  bearing  on  these  prob- 
lems. For  example,  How  can  the  jetties  be  built  to  nar- 
row the  current?  What  material  can  be  obtained  and 
used  for  the  construction  of  the  jetties?  How  can  the 
current  of  the  water  be  turned  more  swiftly  into  this  nar- 
row channel  when  once  formed?  When  abundant  knowl- 
edge is  at  hand  and  focused  on  a  progressive  enterprise, 
questions  may  be  asked  that  will  give  children  a  chance 


CLASSROOM  METHOD   BASED   ON  PROJECTS  241 

to  do  most  of  the  thinking.  In  our  present  teaching  of 
subjects  we  have  not  time  to  put  before  children  the  full 
information  upon  which  they  can  base  their  thinking,  and 
we  are  actually  dictating  both  the  facts  and  the  con- 
clusions. The  whole  matter  is  briefly  summarized  and 
the  children  are  required  to  appropriate  it  by  a  sheer  act 
of  memory. 

The  question  is  one  of  the  teacher's  most  important 
instruments   in   developing   and   testing   knowledge,   but 
there  is  enormous  waste  and  confusion  as  the 
result  of  loose  and  unpremeditated  questioning, 


Questions  need  to  be  framed  in  relation  to  a  de-  waste.  "*. 

questioning 

veloping  line  of  thought,  in  which  a  clearly  seen 
goal  is  set  up  and  knowledge  materials  are  assembled  and 
brought  to  bear  upon  that  goal.  The  big,  well-organized 
unit  of  study  clearly  satisfies  the  two  main  conditions  for 
good  questioning,  (i)  an  abundance  of  pertinent  knowl- 
edge, (2)  a  forward  effort  on  the  basis  of  this  knowledge 
toward  a  clearly-seen  goal,  in  short,  a  purposeful  thought 
movement. 

The  teacher  should  keep  his  mind  centered  upon  the 
main  idea  as  it  grows,  and  the  chief  questions  will  point 
toward  this  developing  thought.  This  presupposes  in 
the  mind  of  the  teacher  a  definite  organization  of  knowl- 
edge. Only  those  questions  are  admitted  which  clearly 
point  out  the  main  steps  in  this  forward-moving  thought. 
On  any  other  basis  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  we  can  avoid 
great  waste  in  questioning. 

The  main  idea  in  a  big  unit  works  itself  out  through  a 
series  of  difficulties.  (See  Chapter  XII.)  In  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  expedition  across  the  western  mountains,  the 
explorers  are  compelled  to  meet  a  succession  of  hardships 


242  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

which  stand  out  as  real  and  knotty  problems  against  which 

they  pitted  their  ingenuity  and  their  physical  endurance. 

All    important    human    enterprises    have    this 

A  big  unit  of,,  .  ..... 

study  is  a  problem-setting  character,  and  our  big  units  of 

developing  study  are  reproductions  of  these  typical  experi- 

probiems,  ences.    The  method  of  teaching  such  large  sub- 

"  Jec^s  *s   a  method  of   solving   problems.    The 


life  situa-  teacher  must  introduce  these  tasking  situations 
with  sufficient  elaboration  of  the  facts  to  qualify 
the  children  for  thinking  out  a  solution  in  each  case.  This 
shows  why  it  is  necessary  to  go  somewhat  fully  into  details. 
Otherwise  the  children  have  not  the  data  upon  which  to 
base  their  reasoning.  These  data  may  sometimes  be  found 
in  the  previous  knowledge  of  the  children  and  can  be 
drawn  out  by  questions.  At  other  times  the  facts  must  be 
presented  directly  by  the  teacher  or  obtained  from  text- 
books and  references.  In  any  case  fullness  of  knowledge 
is  the  only  basis  for  sound  thinking  in  the  effort  to  solve 
problems.  Questioning,  in  the  absence  of  such  knowledge, 
is  a  waste  of  time  and  is  a  not  uncommon  form  of  futile, 
disappointing  mental  effort. 

The  large  units  of  study  are  conspicuous  for  the  fullness 
and  elaborate  presentation  of  the  descriptive  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances which  environ  these  problems.  Big  projects 
grow  and  develop  out  of  such  abundant  accumulations  of 
interesting  knowledge  materials.  The  thought  develops  and 
expands  to  large  proportions  because  it  has  the  thought- 
building  stuff  upon  which  to  grow.  Our  present  studies 
and  classroom  methods  suffer  sadly  and  inevitably  because 
of  the  serious  dearth  of  this  vivifying  circumstantiality  of 
knowledge,  this  strong  supporting  background  of  facts. 
Even  a  good  teacher  is  often  completely  handicapped  by 


CLASSROOM  METHOD   BASED   ON   PROJECTS  243 

this  serious  deficiency.  The  ordinary  principles  of  teaching 
and  the  devices  of  method  are  helpless  in  the  presence  of 
this  desert  condition,  this  shortage  of  detailed  knowledge. 
Our  textbooks,  except  readings  in  good  literature,  have 
accustomed  us  to  this  lean  and  meager  diet,  but  if  real 
problems  are  to  have  any  significance  in  our  methods  of 
instruction,  a  far  richer  accumulation  of  vitalizing  knowl- 
edge must  be  collected  along  the  developing  course  of  every 
big  unit  of  study.  The  mind,  like  a  steam  engine,  requires 
a  large  amount  of  fuel.  At  present  we  are  entirely  too 
stingy  with  our  deeper  and  richer  knowledge  resources. 
They  are  within  our  reach,  if  we  will  take  the  pains  to  col- 
lect and  organize  them.  But  our  textbooks,  under  a  seem- 
ing compulsion  to  spread  out  over  a  vast  field,  have  stripped 
away  most  of  this  rich  environment  of  thought  and  the 
teachers  and  children  are  left  to  travel  along  the  barren 
ridges  of  a  desert  country. 

In  the  first  place,  the  course  of  study  needs  to  be  modi- 
fied so  as  to  make  it  possible  to  deal  adequately  with  these 
big  topics,  and,  secondly,  well-trained  experts  who  have 
plenty  of  time  and  abundant  resources  of  knowledge 
should  be  asked  to  work  out  a  satisfactory,  elaborate 
treatment  of  these  big  units  of  study  which  can  then  be 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  teachers  and  even  of  children. 
In  other  words,  if  teachers  are  to  lead  children  into  prob- 
lem-solving modes  of  study,  it  is  not  well  at  the  start  and 
as  a  preliminary  to  lay  upon  the  teacher  an  impossible 
burden  of  collecting  and  organizing  material,  but  rather 
to  see  that  he  is  well  supplied  with  the  equipment  which 
is  necessary  for  his  success. 

Presupposing  such  big,  problem-solving  projects  in  proper 
elaboration,  the  question  of  method  at  this  point  is  how 


244  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

to  handle  these  problems.    As  to  the  teacher,  the  first  duty 

is  to  find  the  central  difficulty  in  each  problem,  and  to 

know  the  definite  facts  that  bear  upon  it  —  the 

Problems  in 

their  com-  whole  background.  This  implies  a  superior 
ting  quality  of  scholarship  which  is  full  and  clear  and 
practical.  For  example,  in  building  the  Roosevelt  Dam  for 
irrigation  in  the  Salt  River  Valley,  it  was  first  necessary 
to  decide  upon  the  location  of  the  dam  with  reference  to 
forming  a  lake  reservoir  between  the  upper  mountain 
sources  of  water  on  the  one  side,  and  the  level  lands  in 
the  lower  valley  on  the  other.  Taking  these  and  other 
important  facts  into  consideration,  where  should  the  dam 
be  located?  With  this  pivotal  question  in  mind  and  with 
a  full  knowledge  of  the  conditioning  facts,  the  teacher  is 
ready  to  formulate  other  questions  which  will  set  the  chil- 
dren to  thinking.  What  are  two  or  three  most  important 
matters  to  be  considered  in  locating  the  dam?  Where 
could  it  be  most  easily  built?  Where  would  they  get  the 
materials  and  supplies  needed?  To  answer  these  ques- 
tions it  is  advisable  to  have  a  full  supply  of  pertinent  and 
available  information,  and  the  teacher  must  first  have  it 
herself  and  then  see  to  it  that  the  children  get  possession 
of  these  facts,  by  studying  maps  or  by  reading  and  refer- 
ences or  by  the  direct  presentation  on  the  teacher's  part. 
A  simple  fact  furnished  by  the  teacher  may  sometimes 
give  the  children  much  to  think  about.  For  example, 
about  forty  miles  up  the  river,  above  the  lands  to  be  irri- 
gated, is  a  narrow,  deep  gorge  in  the  course  of  the  river. 
What  of  it? 

It  is  worth  noting  that  at  every  step,  even  in  minor 
details  of  such  a  subject,  the  children  meet  problems, 
because  a  project  like  this  is  worked  out  by  a  constant 


CLASSROOM  METHOD   BASED   ON  PROJECTS  245 

adjustment  of  means  to  ends  in  executing  a  larger  whole, 
a  complete  undertaking. 

Nor  is  it  advisable  to  work  out  all  these  problems  by 
question  and  answer,  that  is,  by  a  development  method. 
It  would  require  too  much  time.     Often  a  com- 
plete and  interesting  narrative  or  description  ^*^°^8_ 
is  the  better  manner  of  getting  facts  and  situa-  tionmg  may 
tions  before  the  children.     Here  and  there  a  overdone 
question  thrown  in  at  a  critical  point  will  give 
the  children  their  opportunity  to  help  on  the  progress  of 
thought,  to  solve  problems.     For  example,  —  How  is  the 
water  from  the  lake  reservoir  to  be  brought  down  the  valley 
forty  miles  to  the  point  where  the  flat  lands  lie  which  are 
to  be  irrigated?    They  should  be  encouraged  to  ask  ques- 
tions or  to  raise  objections,  while  their  ideas  and  opinions 
should  be  respected,  even  when  they  go  astray.     Even 
their  mistakes  give  a  favorable  opportunity  for  impressing 
the   truth   by   contrast.     Absurd   answers   are   sometimes 
given  by  children.     Let  the  facts  correct  these  absurdities. 

We  may  even  go  to  the  extreme  of  saying  that  the  teacher 
should  cultivate  the  power  of  vivid  presentation  of  topics, 
of  clear  and  simple  exposition.  He  should 

.  .  The  teacher 

develop  in  a  variety  of  ways  graphic  power  and  should  cui- 

illustrative  resource.     In  aptness  and  force  of  tiva.*fa 

positive 

language,  he  should  increase  more  and  more,  and  skill  in  oral 
in  using  chalk  at  the  blackboard  for  diagrams  and  p 
drawings   and   maps,    he   should    acquire    that   ease   and 
versatility  which  betoken  habit.      In  this  direction  the 
teacher  grows   into   a   professional   expert ;    he  possesses 
distinctive  abilities  or  qualifications  peculiar  to  his  office. 
He  should  become  not  only  a  master  of  devices  but  a  dis- 
coverer and  inventor  of  devices.     This  ideal   is   actually 


246  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

reached  in  large  measure  by  those  who  put  themselves  to 
the  task,  and  it  is  a  highly  honorable  achievement.  It 
should  not  encroach  upon  the  self-activity  and  independent 
thinking  power  of  children,  but  lead  up  to  and  encourage 
self-reliance  on  their  part. 

For  it  is  a  great  achievement  to  develop  power  of  thought 
and  expression  in  children,  to  lead  them  into  these  reflec- 
tive processes,  to  let  them  struggle  with  knowl- 

To  cultivate 

self-active  edge  materials,  and  work  out  clearly  important 
children 'is  a  resu^s  which  they  express  in  adequate  terms  of 
great  language.  The  large  units  of  study,  with  their 

achievement  .  ,.  ,  .  ,.  ,          , 

progressive  organization  and  enriching  thought 
materials,  furnish  the  teacher  the  instruments  with  which 
to  work  out  this  result.  When  the  children  are  well 
launched  into  one  of  these  campaigns  of  study,  their  mental 
activities  are  awakened,  their  minds  begin  to  fill  up  with 
ideas  and  with  projects,  and  they  are  able  to  talk  about  and 
discuss  problems  in  an  almost  masterful  way.  At  least, 
one  is  often  surprised  by  their  power  of  thought  and  full- 
ness and  accuracy  of  speech.  This  never  happens  with 
poor  and  feeble  knowledge,  nor  with  mere  conventional, 
textbook  phraseologies.  There  must  be  a  strong  back- 
ground of  well-appreciated,  organizing  knowledge  before 
this  result  is  achieved. 

The  teacher  must  know  how  to  keep  himself  in  the 
background,  to  unload  the  burden  of  thought  and  expres- 
sion from  himself  upon  the  children,  to  guide  the 
the  burden     process  of  thought  skillfully  by  an  occasional  sug- 
of  effort  to     gestion  or  criticism,  but  to  remain  to  a  large  ex- 

the  children    c  . 

tent  a  silent  spectator.  The  child  should  learn 
to  do  things  on  his  own  responsibility.  He  is  to  under- 
stand that  he  does  not  know  a  thing  till  he  can  give  a  full 


CLASSROOM  METHOD  BASED   ON   PROJECTS  247 

account  of  it  from  his  own  point  of  view,  and  from  his 
own  feeling  of  mastery.  Let  the  teacher  keep  his  hands 
off  and  let  the  child  struggle  with  his  own  problem.  Surely 
this  is  true  in  the  final  windup  of  any  important  discussion, 
in  testing  results  after  the  full  treatment  of  any  larger 
subject.  Our  argument  at  this  stage  brings  us  to  the  point 
where  thoroughness  in  the  mastery  of  knowledge  is  of  such 
importance  that  it  calls  for  a  system  of  careful  tests. 

CONSTRUCTIVE  THOROUGHNESS 

The  general  plan  of  working  out  and  organizing  the 
large  unit  of  study  provides  at  several  points  for  a  con- 
structive thoroughness,  that  is,  a  thoroughness 
that  is  built  up,  steadily,  by  the  natural  growth  Thorough- 
and  interconnection  of  thought  as  the  subject  on  growth 
unfolds.     There  is  a  prevalent  opinion  among  """!  orf ""• 

f  t  zation  in 

teachers  that  thoroughness  rests  mainly  upon  knowledge 
repetitions  and  rigid  drills.  But  thoroughness 
of  the  better  type  is  that  which  rests  first  upon  complete 
understanding  of  the  thing  to  be  learned.  To  see  a  thing 
clearly  in  its  beginnings,  growth,  and  essential  relations, 
to  comprehend  it  in  its  bearings  on  life  and  reality,  to  get 
an  experimental,  usable  knowledge  of  a  thing  is  to  know 
it  thoroughly.  The  thoroughness  of  knowledge  that 
makes  it  efficient  in  use  is  what  we  want.  There  is  a 
fictitious,  rather  pretentious,  kind  of  thoroughness,  based 
upon  verbal  drills  and  oft-repeated  reviews,  which  has  a 
strong  resemblance  to  knowledge.  But  the  best  kind  of 
knowledge  is  that  which  takes  deep  root  and  like  a  young 
plant  soon  acquires  powers  of  independent  assimilation 
and  growth.  In  the  large  unit  of  study  this  growing 
energy,  as  a  strong  factor,  is  provided  for  in  two  ways. 


248  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

First,  in  order  to  give  the  central  idea  in  a  large  study- 
unit  a  chance  to  germinate,  that  is,  to  exhibit  its  life  prin- 
ciple, a  strong,  active  demonstration  of  this  idea, 
under  which  as  a  positive,  active  force  in  the  world,  is  effec- 
anidea         tively  presented.     Much  pains  is  taken  to  un- 

germmates 

cover  the  strength  of  this  idea  and  to  let  it  mani- 
fest itself  concretely  in  its  full  setting  and  influence.  This 
explains  why  such  elaborate  efforts  are  made  to  gather 
descriptive  data  and  to  enrich  and  intensify  the  interesting, 
graphic  details  which  environ  the  central  thought.  This 
point  has  been  fully  discussed  and  illustrated  in  previous 
chapters. 

The  second  step  which  provides  for  a  solid  and  permanent 
structure  of  knowledge  is  the  growth  and  expansion  of 

the  idea  through  a  study  and  comparison  of 
andor-™  *  other  real  situations  in  which  the  same  idea  is 
ganizing  operative.  We  must  make  sure  of  the  scope  of 

an  idea,  its  power  and  influence  in  the  world 
beyond  this  single  example. 

The  growing  stage  in  the  large  unit  introduces  a  full 
series  of  these  additional  embodiments  of  the  idea  for 
serious  examination  and  for  comparison  with  the  original. 
Ideas  have  to  find  a  deep,  rich  soil  in  which  to  expand. 
They  refuse  to  thrive  in  a  thin,  poor,  or  desert  environment. 
It  requires  much  time  to  collect  sufficient  variety  of  illus- 
trative experience  upon  which  to  grow  a  strong  and  master- 
ful idea.  A  purposive  idea  does  not  begin  to  show  its 
larger  influence  till  we  have  introduced  a  variety  of  impor- 
tant situations  in  which  it  reveals  its  dominant  force. 
Textbooks  are  meager  and  almost  valueless  in  this  great 
effort  to  demonstrate  the  expansive  power  of  ideas  in  a 
broader  field.  They  either  forget  or  underestimate  the 


CLASSROOM  METHOD   BASED   ON  PROJECTS  249 

value  of  this  procedure  or  they  leave  it  wholly  to  the  teacher, 
who  neglects  it  or  has  not  time  to  provide  for  it.  But 
when  ideas  fail  to  grow  and  expand,  education  in  this 
direction  comes  to  a  standstill.  We  may  try  to  make  up 
for  this  by  strenuous  reviews  and  drills,  but  the  foundation 
of  sound  knowledge  is  lacking  and  mere  reviews  and  repeti- 
tions cannot  compensate  for  the  lack  of  vital  knowledge. 
A  considerable  number  of  complete  illustrations  of  this 
second  important  stage  in  the  growth  of  ideas  has  been  set 
forth  in  the  preceding  chapters. 

In  summing  up  we  may  note  that  the  elaborate  treatment 
of  a  big  study-unit  through  its  two  main  stages  is  a  pledge 
that  ideas  first  of  all  have  taken  deep  root  in  good, 

Summary 

rich  soil  ;  and,  secondly,  that  they  have  continued 
to  grow  and  mature  under  favorable  culture  till  they  have 
reached  a  full  fruitage.    This  we  are  disposed  to  affirm 
as  the  necessary  basis  for  all  thoroughness  in  knowledge. 

APPERCEPTIVE  USE  OF  KNOWLEDGE  (See  Chapter  V) 

In  connection  with  these  two  main  stages  in  the  sound 
growth  of  knowledge  there  are  two  other  phases  of  the 
process  of  thought  which  require  special  em- 
phasis. In  approaching  any  new  subject  or  Oid 


large  unit,  children  should  be  summoned  by  a  innew 

.  .  situations 

constant  appeal  to  their  previous  experience. 
The  course  of  study  is  laid  out  with  the  explicit  intention 
of  making  earlier  topics  contribute  important  data  for  the 
interpretation  of  later  subjects  of  study.  In  short,  our 
course  of  study  should  be  dominated  by  important  ideas 
which  keep  reappearing  as  fundamental  types,  and  these 
have  great  capacity  for  interpreting  new  but  similar  situa- 
tions. Children,  then,  should  be  held  to  a  constant  use 


250  TEACHING   BY   PROJECTS 

of  their  old  ideas,  or  to  a  perpetual  process  of  discovering 
old  ideas  in  new  situations.  The  habit  of  rediscovering 
ideas  is  one  to  be  steadily  cultivated  both  by  teachers  and 
children.  It  is  an  emphasis  of  the  apperceptive  use  of 
knowledge.  To  state  this  principle  in  this  form  is  simply 
to  show  where  a  serious  difficulty  lies.  For  it  is  one  of  the 
chief  difficulties  in  class  instruction  to  put  this  principle 
into  frequent  and  steady  use.  New  things,  or  those  which 
seem  to  be  new  and  strange,  are  usually  hard  to  master. 
Children  in  school  are  ever  coming  up  against  just  such  new 
situations,  and  the  skill  of  the  teacher  is  tried  to  the  limit  at 
this  crucial  point.  A  new  difficulty  can  usually  be  solved  in 
one  of  two  ways.  If  it  is  a  lesson  that  involves  a  really  new 
idea,  it  is  necessary  to  introduce  a  full,  concrete  illustration, 
for  example,  a  boomerang,  or  a  catamaran.  If,  however,  the 
new  lesson  contains  an  old  principle  in  a  new  and  strange 
form  or  dress,  it  can  usually  be  explained  by  recalling  the 
kindred  idea  or  example  and  by  discovering  a  similarity. 

The  importance  of  the  large  type  study  is  that  it  not 

only  embodies  an  important  idea  in  a  typical  object,  and  thus 

becomes  the  basis  for  the  full  development  of  a 

The  far-        broad  unit  of  study,  but  that  it  may  be  the  first  of 

reaching,  . 

interpreta-     an  important  series  of  type  studies,  based  on  the 


same  idea,  and  extending  more  or  less  contin- 
uously through  the  whole  length  of  the  curricu- 
lum. In  fact  it  expands  and  reaches  into  later  life  and 
becomes  a  center  around  which  to  group  and  interpret 
similar  experiences  in  later  life.  The  first  full  demonstra- 
tion of  an  important  type  becomes  thus  a  basis  later  for 
a  rapid  and  effective  interpretation  of  many  so-called  new 
and  difficult  lessons.  When  we  add  this  consideration, 
that  the  basal  types  or  ideas  are  few  in  number,  that  a  few 


CLASSROOM  METHOD  BASED  ON   PROJECTS  251 

fundamental  ideas  extending  through  the  curriculum  make 
the  main  framework  upon  which  the  whole  course  is  built, 
we  begin  to  realize  the  far-reaching,  interpretative  power  of 
these  few  leading  ideas,  and  also  the  simplicity  of  the  course 
of  study  as  a  whole.  The  processes  of  instruction  should 
be  bent  to  the  thorough  working  out  of  these  main  ideas  in 
a  continuous  stream.  But  teachers  often  overlook  this. 

As  instruction  advances  from  grade  to  grade  the  cen- 
tral ideas  become  well  developed  and  progress  should  be 
more  rapid  because  the  new  situations  can  be 
interpreted   quickly   on   the  basis  of  previous  T.he  ^P" 
studies.     (See  Chapter  V.)     This  line  of  thought  of  a  small 


suggests  the  value  of  a  very  intensive  study  of  baoa?  ideas 
a  small  number  of  fundamental  projects  in  each 
school  subject  and  a  systematic  use  and  application  of 
these  as  interpreters  and  as  a  means  of  rapid  progress 
through  effective  organization  of  studies.  Our  present 
short  and  scrappy  treatment  of  important  units  of  study 
fails  to  bring  the  main  ideas  into  such  a  clear  light,  such  a 
full  demonstration,  that  they  will  in  the  future  possess 
keen,  interpretative  power.  Ideas  do  not  become  strong 
factors  in  the  interpretation  of  new  knowledge  until  they 
have  acquired  a  certain  dominant  energy,  until  they 
have  become  rooted  in  one's  progressive  habits  of  thought, 
so  that  later  incoming  experience  and  knowledge  are  drawn 
in  and  absorbed  by  these  stronger  habits  and  preconcep- 
tions. It  pays,  therefore,  to  abide  long  enough  with  some 
central  unit  of  thought  so  that  its  controlling  idea  may 
become  a  live  center  for  future  organizations.  It  becomes 
especially  keen  and  strong  in  its  power  to  interpret  all 
similar  situations  where  the  same  fundamental  idea  pre- 
vails —  e.g.  a  thorough  understanding  of  our  Federal  Gov- 


252  TEACHING   BY  PROJECTS 

eminent  in  its  structure  and  functions  will  throw  a  quick 
and  strong  light  upon  all  free  governments  and  even  upon 
other  arbitrary  governments  by  contrast. 

The  second  important  means  of  securing  thoroughness  is 
that  of  review  by  comparison.  In  several  important  studies, 
Review  by  as  in  history,  literature,  science,  and  geography, 
comparison  systematic  comparison  of  earlier  with  later 
studies  is  productive  of  reflective  thinking,  of  rapid  as- 
similation of  knowledge,  and  of  close  organization  upon 
central  themes.  (See  Chapters  V  and  XII.) 

One  common  reason  for  not  making  comparisons  is  that 
comparison  requires  special  fullness  and  definiteness  of 
knowledge.  Our  information  on  important  subjects  has 
been  too  meager  to  form  a  basis  for  thoughtful  comparisons 
by  which  we  may  discover  striking  similarities  and  contrasts. 
The  Missouri  River,  for  example,  is  more  than  twice  as 
long  as  the  Ohio,  but  carries  only  half  as  much  water  into 
the  Mississippi  River  as  the  Ohio.  The  causes  and  results 
of  this  wide  difference  are  deserving  of  thoughtful  study. 
The  Rhine  is  more  than  three  times  as  long  as  the  Hudson 
and  yet  commercially  the  Hudson  is  fully  as  important 
as  the  Rhine.  Why?  This  kind  of  information  is  not 
furnished  by  the  books  and  such  problems  cannot  be  dis- 
cussed till  fuller  information  is  at  hand. 

Our  large  units  of  study  are  elaborated  with  such  descrip- 

tive fullness  and  their  fundamental  values  are  so 

units  IMS-       clearly  measured  and  defined  that  they  become 

come  our       definite  standards  of  value.     We  later  return 

standard  .  .  . 

measures       to  them  again  and  again  as  measuring  units. 


later  and  continuous  comparisons  of  these 
with    similar    and    with    dissimilar    objects    of 
thought  bring  them  into  new  lights  and  to  greater  clearness. 


CLASSROOM  METHOD  BASED   ON  PROJECTS  253 

By  these  perpetual  comparisons,  on  the  basis  of  a  few 
standards  of  thought,  our  chief  concepts  are  thoroughly 
worked  over,  organized,  and  mastered. 

This  regular  and  reflective  use  of  comparisons  in  the 
second  stage  of  big  units  of  study  would  not  only  collect 
and  organize  our  resources  upon  developing  centers  of 
thought,  but  it  would  almost  put  an  end  to  our  memoriter 
and  static  reviews,  which  at  present  form  so  large  a  part 
of  the  dulling  routine  of  school  study. 

Reviews  by  comparison  are  highly  stimulating  to  inde- 
pendent thought  and  they  build  up  that  steady  organiza- 
tion of  knowledge  and  that  continuity  of  thought  from 
year  to  year  which  is  not  only  the  best  proof  of  thorough- 
ness, but  is  a  sure  indication  of  the  power  to  use  knowledge 
and  apply  it  to  new  situations.  The  type  studies,  by 
continually  resurrecting  the  older  fundamental  ideas  in 
study,  furnish  opportunity  in  every  important  topic  for 
systematic  review  by  comparison.  In  this  way  growth 
in  knowledge  becomes  an  assimilating,  organizing  process. 
The  important  ideas  come  to  frequent  review  and  what  is 
learned  is  built  into  the  organic  mental  structure  so  as  to 
hold  its  place  securely.  Memory  is  based,  not  mainly 
upon  repetition  and  drill,  but  upon  vital  association  and 
upon  strong  and  permanent  growth  in  thought. 

The  main  distinction  between  the  conventional  idea 
of  review  and  drill  and  the  view  here  presented  is  the  dif- 
ference between  the  static  and  the  dynamic  con- 

,.    ,  ,,        ,  The  static 

ception  of  learning.     In  our  view  the  learning  and  the 
process  is  a  perpetual  forward-moving,  assimilat-  dyMmic 
ing  growth.     The  older  and  prevailing  view  is 
that  knowledge  is  a  static  accumulation,  that  can  be  tested 
and  measured  by  examinations.     While  there  is  a  static 


254  TEACHING  BY  PROJECTS 

element  in  knowledge,  it  needs  to  be  kept  flexible,  or 
better  still,  growing  and  always  reorganizing  its  elements. 
The  Mississippi  River,  for  example,  is  not  so  much  an  object 
as  a  process  in  nature,  an  exhibition  of  nature's  forces 
operating  on  a  gigantic  scale.  In  order  to  understand  the 
Mississippi  River  we  must  allow  our  minds  to  swing  into 
the  great  current  of  action  displayed  by  the  river  itself. 
Men  have  studied  this  river  in  its  work  and  have  learned 
to  modify  and  direct  its  energy  to  a  considerable  extent. 
Captain  Eads,  by  building  the  jetties,  caused  the  current 
of  the  river  to  clear  out  and  deepen  its  own  channel  so  that 
large  vessels  could  pass  the  delta  bar.  A  careful  study  of 
this  river  in  its  physiographic  and  climatic  conditions,  in 
its  developing  life  history,  and  in  its  regular  and  periodic 
mode  of  action  is  a  sound  basis  for  a  complete  understand- 
ing of  the  forces  at  work  in  a  great  river  system.  It  is 
highly  remunerative  to  spend  many  hours  in  camping 
along  this  great  stream,  in  examining  the  work  of  its  widely 
different  tributaries,  in  marking  its  floods  and  man's  efforts 
to  curb  them,  in  observing  its  navigable  uses  and  water 
powers.  We  shall  learn  many  important  lessons  that 
will  give  us  a  quick  interpretation  of  other  rivers  so  long  as 
we  continue  our  study  of  geography.  Especially  is  this 
true  if  we  will  take  time  for  thoughtful  comparisons.  In 
the  elaborate  study  of  the  Mississippi  we  have  a  sound 
basis  for  organization  of  knowledge  concerning  all  rivers, 
in  a  developing  course.  We  fail  to  get  this  surprising  benefit 
because  we  neglect  to  devote  our  time  to  an  intensive,  real- 
istic study  of  a  few  big,  dominant  types.  Having  forfeited 
this  first  great  advantage,  of  course  we  cannot  use  such 
types  as  centers  of  organization  for  the  later  studies.  We 
are  simply  thrown  back  upon  a  memoriter  drill. 


INDEX 


Abortive  knowledge,  91 
Achievement,  a  large  unit  of,  176 
Agencies  engaged  in  irrigation,  208 
Amount  of  land  irrigated  in  U.  S.,  216 
Analogies  on  the  nature  of  knowledge,  126 
Apperception,  87 ;   interpretations  based 
on,    224;     use    of    past    experiences, 
230;    apperceptive  use  of  knowledge, 
249 

Assimilation  and  use  of  knowledge,  80 
Assuan  Dam  on  the  Nile,  204 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  118 
Big  unit  of  study,  16 
Biographical  stories  as  large  units,  68 
Business-world  pedagogy,  82 

California,  trip  to,  29 

Capitol,  25 

Centers  for  organizing  facts,  122 

Chaotic  knowledge,  1 23 

Chicago  Drainage  Canal,  119 

Children  can  think,  232 

Children   held   to   a   mastery   of   large 

topics,  233 

Children  take  the  burden  of  effort,  246 
Chinese  canals  and  irrigation,  213 
Collections  made  by  children,  234 
Committee  of  Eight  on  History,  100 
Comparison   based   on   definite   unit   of 

measure,  231 

Completed  unit  of  study  a  beginning,  130 
Composition  themes  in  large  projects,  235 
Concepts  as  a  starting  point,  62 ;  dull 

tools,  65 

Concrete,  the,  64 
Confusion  in  studies,  121 
Conservative  tendencies,  144 
Constructive  thoroughness,  247 
Continuity  of  thought,  89 
Correlations  are  natural  in  large  types, 

227 


Deeper  thinking  by  children  in  large 
projects,  228 

Demonstration  farm  for  irrigation,  202 

Development  method,  239 ;  easily  over- 
done, 245 

De  Witt  Clinton,  no 

Diversion  Dam,  196 

Dogmatic  process,  94 

Drill  based  on  the  series  developed  by  a 
large  unit,  234 

Drills  and  reviews,  239 

Dynamic  process  in  large  units,  169 

Dynamic  thought-movement  a  basis  for 
method,  239 

Economy  of  large  lesson-planning,  151 
Egypt  and  irrigation,  210 
Elephant  Butte  Project,  203 
Enlarged  object  lesson,  74 
Enrichment  of  studies,  135 ;  conclusions 

as  to,  150,  151 
Erie  Canal,  98 

Facts  growing  into  knowledge,  127 
False  conception  of  knowledge,  129 
First  stage  in  a  large  unit,  176 
Flexibility  in  thinking,  225 
Formal  outlines  criticized,  184 
Formalism,  drift  toward,  144 
Freedom  of  expression  encouraged,  233 

Garden  projects,  18;  home  garden,  19 
Great  migration,  33 

History,  beginning  in  general  outlines,  68 
Hoosac  Tunnel,  118 

Ideas,  conditions  for  germination  of,  248 ; 

growing,  124;  rule  the  world,  124 
India,  irrigation  in,  212 
Inductive-deductive  processes,  135 
Intensive  study  of  basal  ideas,  251 


255 


256 


INDEX 


Intensive  treatment  of  large  units,  145 

Interest  and  effort,  94 

Intermediate  grades  and  textbook  teach- 
ing, 70 ;  a  plunge  into  big  projects,  73 ; 
getting  started  right  in  middle  grades, 
76;  graphic  methods  in,  71;  unique 
service  of  intermediate  grades,  76 

Irrigation,  method  of,  106-197;  future 
problems  of,  214;  references  on,  215 

Keokuk  Dam,  42 

Large  unit,  a  developing  series  of  prob- 
lems, 242 

Large  units  prevent  cramping  routine, 
185;  favor  freedom  in  teacher,  185; 
grow  from  year  to  year,  188;  two 
stages  in  treatment,  219 

Learning  as  growth  and  organization,  1 28 

L'Enfant,  22 

Lesson  planning,  large,  152 ;  large  lesson 
planning  neglected,  153;  large  unit 
considered  first  as  a  whole,  154 

Life  centers,  16 

Life  method  and  school  method,  175 

Literary  wholes  as  centers,  98 ;  examples 
of  such  wholes,  147 

Literature,  a  general  description,  67 

Main  features  of  a  central  unit,  58 
Many-sidedness  of  big  units  of  study,  183 
Masterpieces  of  teaching  in  literature,  99 
Mastery  of  the  whole  topic  or  unit,  219 
Method  based  on  projects,    237 ;    illus- 
trated by  the  Salt  River  Project,  216 
Mormon  projects  in  irrigation,  204 
Muscle  Shoals  Project,  37 

Natural  process  in  learning,  60 
New  York  Central  Railroad,  116 

Object  lessons  outside  the  school,   78; 

for  intermediate  grades,  146 
Old  National  Road,  114 
Organization,  basis  for,  139 ;  difficulty  of, 

158 ;  settles  three  important  questions, 

160 ;  strenuous  effort  required  in,  161 ; 

a  basis  for  method,  218 

Pacific  Railroad,  35 
Panama  Canal,  79,  119 
Pennsylvania  canals,  107 
Portage  railroad,  115 


Primary  schools  and  objective  teaching, 
?o 

Problems,  in  a  complete  setting,  244; 
demanded,  170;  life  problems,  171; 
historic  and  economic,  172 ;  the  child's 
opportunity,  172 

Problem-projects,  better  than  problems 
in  arithmetic,  231 

Problem-solving,  238 

Projects  as  habits  of  society,  173 ;  home 
projects,  6;  history  projects,  7,  14; 
industrial  and  commercial,  6;  liter- 
ary, 9;  meaning  of,  10;  shop  projects, 
6;  standard  elements  of,  13;  self- 
activity  and  freedom,  93 

Questions  based  on  previous  organiza- 
tion, 222 ;  loss  of  time  in  questioning, 
223 

Questioning,  art  of,  238;   waste  in,  241 

Reclamation  service,  190,  192 

Reflective  thinking,  187 

Relations,  vital,  between  studies,  182 

Religious  teaching,  beginning  in  concepts, 
66 

Reviews  as  means  of  organizing  knowl- 
edge, 181 ;  constructive  organization, 
181 ;  by  comparison,  252 

Roosevelt  Dam,  195 

Salt  River  Project,  189 

San  Francisco  Exposition,  78 

School  can  improve  on  life,  174 

Science  topics  as  large  units,  148 

Second  or  reflective  stage  of  study  in 
large  units,  179;  growing  and  organiz- 
ing stage,  248 

Self-activity,  92 ;  in  children,  246 

Sensory  basis  of  knowledge,  72 

Shoshone  Project,  201 

Simplicity  of  knowledge,  133 

Simplifying  the  course,  138 

Skeletonizing  the  thought  studies,  142 

Skill  in  oral  presentation,  245 

Snake  River  Projects,  200 

Standard  measure  or  big  units,  252 

Static  knowledge,  184 

Static  and  dynamic  view  of  knowledge, 
2S3 

Taft,  President,  27 

Teachers  need  help  in  organization,  159 ; 


INDEX 


257 


as  leaders  in  larger  thinking,  162;  as 
leaders   in   organizing,    166;     fail    to 
image    in    reflective    thought,     228; 
training  on  the  basis  of  big  units,  166 
Tendency  to  adopt  large  units,  102 
Tennessee  River  navigation,  41 
Terms  used  to  express  large  units,  101 
Test  —  final  review,  236 
Textbook  topics,  15 
Thought  studies,  143 
Truckee-Carson  Project,  205 
Twenty-nine  irrigation  projects,  206 
Twilight  zone  in  the  learning  process,  63 
Twin  Falls  Project,  201 
Types  and  their  value,  131 ;  basal  types, 
133 ;  a  chain  of  types  and  continuity, 
179;    comparisons  develop  the  type, 
226;  interpretative  use  of  types,  250 


Unanswerable  questions,  229 

Units  of  construction  in  manual  arts,  100 

Units  of  study,  as  illustrated  for  teachers, 
163;  furnished  by  life  itself,  174; 
large  units  a  basis  for  instruction,  168 ; 
negatively  defined,  46;  positively 
denned,  50;  sifting  out  units  a  diffi- 
cult work,  164;  specialists  needed, 
165;  summary  of  central  units,  58; 
value  to  teachers  of  well-organized 
units,  158 

Universities  and  object  lessons  in  agri- 
culture, 80 

Usable  knowledge,  92 

Washington  City,  a  project,  22 
Water  power  a  substitute  for  coal,  42 
Wetland  Canal,  118 


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